The Banshee Universe
by Latifah27
Summary: au of 'darkness and light'. knuckles is crippled by robotnik, but finds love in the arms of a stranger. and sonic and sally find out what happens when they mix pleasure with business. fem-slash, violence, potty-humor, etc...
1. Stark Realization

Warning!!! Contains slash and hints of human-mobian romance!!! And if you don't like Dark Angel-type stories or mush, don't read. And don't flame!

Contains some fluff and a romantic scene with Sonic and Sally. Sally may be pregnant.

Special thanx to Orin for letting me write an AU to her story.

Latifah 27 surveyed the wasteland of buildings. Dark. Filled with smoke and noxious fumes. Those were made by one of her own.

She shook her head and cursed under her breath at the memory.

Latifah 27 belonged to a sub-race of humans called 'banshees'. They had long been exiled to this planet, Mobius, because of their limited, but still impressive telepathic powers. The humans, being afraid of what they did not know, hated the banshees.

And they knew that the Mobians would not accept them as they were, so they settled in the secluded regions of the planet, and stayed away from the anthropomorphic-sapients. They also decided not to interfere with the normal development of the natives' society.

But, a few years ago, a rogue human called Julian Ivo Kintobar attacked the planet without provocation, possibly in an attempt to steal it's treasures.

The chaos emeralds. The energized stones that enhanced the banshees' abilities, mutating them into powerful telekinetics as well as telepaths.

Latifah herself had rather weak psy-powers, and could barely lift a pebble. She could feel the emotions of people around her, but she couldn't read minds unless drawn in by a stronger telepath. She suspected that her mother had something to do with it, something she would always deny.

The stale wind blew dust against her ebony skin and into her dark, seemingly iris-less eyes. She blinked to get the dust out, and brushed it off her field uniform.

Latifah looked down at the city again, this time using her visual scanner. Something blue rushed out of the mock-up of factories. Something too fast to pin-point.

She took out her comm-unit. The banshees' telepathic ranges were limited, the distance varying from person to person, so they still used comms.

"Base, this is Latifah 27. Do you read me?"

"This is base, we read you loud and clear, over"

"Base, I've spotted what could be a life-form in the vicinity of Robotropolis, do you copy?"

"Life form? Please elaborate, over"

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's way too fast for my scanners. Should I investigate?"

"I'd advise against it. Besides, you're here to scan for SWATbots. I'll have someone look into this 'life-form'. Base out"

Yeah, like hell they would, Latifah thought, as she switched off the comm.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Sonic had to case the city again, this time alone. He had to keep Robotnik from doing whatever he was planning on doing, and avoid meeting up with his former-friend in the process.

Finding nothing, he radioed Knothole.

"Sonic to Knothole"

Knothole here. Have you found any clue to what Robotnik is up to?

"No. It'd be best if you sent in a team. Sonic out"

He pocketed the radio and made for the exit, not wanting to wait for the SWAT-bots to find him first.

****************************************************************************************************************************

The banshee continued to scan for the life-form, hoping to be able to study it. It would probably be the most action she would ever see, since she was not in the combat-division.

Because of her weak powers, Latifah was relegated to the fringe of the millitia she had joined. They said she would be "unable to defend herself", but she knew that they just plain didn't like her.

Latifah 27. Her people didn't have last names. Instead they had designation-numbers. Numbers that their parents would use when mad, like, "Number 27! You clean your room!"

Suddenly, her sensors picked up a strange reading, and she saw that blue thing again. This time it was closer, so she decided to make herself scarce.

Any contact with the natives was forbidden; they had learned about the Freedom Fighters by hiding out near a hidden village, Knothole. The banshees had decided to help the natives because they didn't want to see a race go extinct.

The life-form stopped. A hedgehog! He sat down and regarded Robotropolis, sighing.

"What did I do? I was going to help him... Oh, shoot. Why do I even bother?"

He sighed again. Latifah was curious as to what he was talking about, but she knew that the people on this planet did not take too well to humans. Still...

"Oh, Knuckles, whatever I did, I'm sorry!" he cried out.

Latifah felt a familliar irritation in her nose. Must've been all that dust. No... Not here! Not now! If she blew her cover, there would be hell to pay.

"Achoooo!!!"

Too late...

The hedgehog turned to see who just sneezed.

"Wha? Who's there?"

Latifah didn't answer. Instead, she tried using what little psy-power she had to try to coax the hedgehog's thoughts to something else. She couldn't. The hedgehog started towards the source of the sneeze.

"Whoever you are, bless-whoa! Human!"

"Please, don't hurt me!" Latifah begged.

"Don't hurt you, huh? I'll just hafta see about that!"

And he spin-dashed at her.

"No!!!!!"

Latifah shielded herself with her arms, and waited for the pain she knew would come. When she opened her eyes, however, the attacker was suspended in mid-air.

"What's goin' on? What are you doin' to me?"

"I-I don't know..." she answered, "And who's knuckles?"

"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!!!" the hedgehog screamed.

Shaken by all this, Latifah took her gear and ran. Then she realized that it would be her neck if this was found out. So, she instead started towards the city, this time with a strange new awareness.

She could sense the hedgehog's feelings with greater intensity, and was vaguely aware of his thoughts. Sonic... His name was Sonic... And The banshee could make out a red figure too hazy to recognize. Knuckles... A friend... No, no, not a friend anymore... He was in the city, she was sure of that.

Latifah turned her comm off, and entered the city, with the choking smoke and chemicals. She put on a gas-mask to protect her lungs and eyes, and a safety-suit in case some of the gasses were corrosive.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Back at Knothole, Sonic was pacing the floor of his hut, wondering how that human was able to do that. Was it working for Robotnik? It sounded confused, as if it didn't know how it was able to suspend him in the air.

It must've been eaves-dropping, listening in while he was baring his soul.

Sonic cursed at the thought. More then anything, he hated humans. Anything that looked like a human was evil. He had learned that a long time ago, when Robotnik took over the planet, and roboticized most of the inhabitants.

Uncle Chuck... Roboticized but able to reclaim his soul... But would Knuckles be so lucky?

"Sonic?"

It was Sally. She walked in, hesitantly, since it was considered improper for a woman, let alone a princess, to come into a man's house alone.

He met her gaze, and then hung his head.

"Sonic, what's wrong? You've been in there all day!"

"I don't wanna talk about it!"

Sally put her hands on her hips. This was not like Sonic. He always wore his mind on his sleeve(figuratively). But now he was behaving almost like Knuckles.

"Sonic, what the hell is wrong?"

"I was attacked by a human," the hedgehog hissed.

"A human?"

"Yes. A strange-looking one, probably a female"

Sally rolled her eyes and snickered.

"Well, beaten by a girl..."

"What's so funny about that?" Sonic yelled, "First Knuckles wants to kill me, for some strange reason, then a human suspends me in mid-air, then you-"

"What???"

Sally raised an eyebrow in a quizzical fashion.

"Like I said! The f***ing human was holding me in the air without touching me!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh, forget it! Go away!" a now very upset Sonic yelled.

The squirrel princess was at loss for words.

"B-but Sonic... I-i'm sorry... Please..."

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"Oh, Sonic, I'm sorry. I... It just seems so far-fetched-"

"It happened! I'm telling the truth! You gotta believe me!"

Sally looked the hedgehog in the eyes, saw them filling with tears. She put an arm around him, walked him to a couch and sat him down.

"Sonic, I do believe you. It's weird, but I have faith that what you said happened"

She sighed.

"And we're gonna get to the bottom of this. I promise. We'll get Knuckles back for you... I know the two of you didn't get along that well in the past, but things have changed, alot of things... I won't let it end this way!" Sally said, as she traced the still angry-looking scar on Sonic's face.

Sonic stroked the lovely squirrel's face, drew her close and kissed her. He kissed deeper than he ever had, touching her tongue with his.

Sally let him in, even though she knew it was wrong... She felt him clutch at the vest she was wearing, slowly easing it off...

****************************************************************************************************************************

Robotniik was pleased; the echidna was very useful in putting that miserable hedgehog out of service, even if it was only temporary. Soon, however, the adamantine implant would poison the Guardian's body, killing him. And his death would be painful.

The mad scientist had already expected his victim to start having headaches because of the virus. The pathogen would temporarily keep him alive, but death was inevitable... Then again, if he decided to, Robotnik would take the half-dead echidna and roboticize him.

A prize-catch, made even better by the cold-hearted betrayal...

Mobius's destruction was so close he could taste it. And it tasted good.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Latifah wandered through the city, scanning for this 'Knuckles'. Finally, she decided to do a mind-sweep. Putting away her scanner and taking off her mask, she touched a gloved hand to her temple, and searched for him.

Knuckles...

............

Knuckles???

?

Knuckles? I am a friend...

Friend? Who are you? Stop talking to me!!!

She was able to pin-point where the signiture came from, and could sense that something was terribly wrong. The life-force was fading, yet he was unaware.

Latifah had to act fast, or this creature would die.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Knuckles was not feeling well. His headache was getting worse; he could not function like this. And he was hearing voices again.

Robotnik could not be trusted. He was certain of that. The madman must've done something to him. The echidna couldn't keep anything down. He had started rejecting food a couple of days ago, causing him to lose weight.

Knuckles...

That voice again!

"Will you leave me alone???" he screamed.

Knuckles, you're in danger...

"No s***!"

KNUCKLES!!!!!!!

It stabbed into his brain. Knuckles was disoriented, didn't know where he was or what was happening. He was also feeling an all-too-familliar sensation. Weakness.

"KNUCKLES! Wake up!!!"

He opened his eyes, and saw the form of a human, one much skinnier than Robotnik. And a female. He could sense she wasn't at all like the one he worked for.

Knuckles was too weak to say anything. He just moaned.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Robotnik picked up something strange on his scanners. A human? Something was amis...

But no matter; whoever it was, it would never get past the SWAT-bots.

Of course, it was probably just Snively fooling around with one of his girlfriends. Sometimes the women who piloted the supply-ship would take a little 'time-off' to knock up his ugly nephew, for reasons he couldn't begin to fathom.

Snively was such an insubordinate, worthless piece of trash. The only reason Robotnik let him live was because he was family, and his death would raise too many questions...

****************************************************************************************************************************

Latifah scanned the area. SWAT-bots had detected her, and she wouldn't have much time. She gently picked the echidna up and flew with him out to the forest. 

The banshee scanned him, and cursed at what she found.

He was being poisoned, possibly by a piece of metal on his spine. Adamantine?!? That metal was poisonous even to her kind. And there were traces of hallucinogenic agents in his blood. And he had been infected with some kind of artificial pathogen!!!

Quickly, Latifah took out her med-kit and gave Knuckles a shot of local anesthesia, not too much though, because of his weakened state. Then she used a laser scalple to make an incision in his back. After working all night, she was able to remove all the offending metal. She also jury-rigged a blood-filter to take care of the nanites.

Soon, the echidna was sleeping, bandaged and wrapped in a field jacket.

Latifah shivered. Her fatigue did not protect her from the freezing air, but Knuckles needed the jacket more then she did. And he would also need a mind-link when he awoke.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Meanwhile, Sally woke up in Sonic's bed, turned over to feel an empty spot where the hedgehog had slept. She heard the shower going, and realized that he was washing up. Sonic was afraid of large bodies of water, but thought nothing of showering or running around in the rain like a child.

She smiled. That hedgehog was still pretty much a little boy, but he was nobody's fool when it was crunch-time. And he was one romantic soul.

Then, the princess realized something. She and Sonic had just slept together, and there was no protection available. She could be pregnant. But they just got so lost in each other that they didn't think...

"I do not need this," she mumbled to herself, and went back to sleep.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Knuckles awoke feeling better, but where was he? He looked around. He was in the forest, where Sonic had left him... Sonic... Why did he do that? Why did Sonic use him as a shield?

He tried to get up, but his legs would not work. Paralyzed again?

"W-what's goin' on..." he slurred, "Robotnik you Bastard! What the f*** did ya do to me..."

Knuckles usually wasn't that colorful, but he had obviously been betrayed, again. He had drempt of a human, a woman, who picked him up and flew... But that was impossible, or was it?

Someone was holding him down, and clamping a hand over his mouth.

"Shhhh! You don't want us to be discovered?"

Knuckles shook his head and relaxed, and the hand came off.

He looked at the figure. A human. The one that carried him away in his dream... No, it wasn't a dream...

"Knuckles, I know this is hard to believe, but Robotnik was trying to kill you. He re-attached your spine with an adamantine cable!"

She showed him the bloody cable, and the echidna cursed.

"And I think he subjected you to subliminal suggestions, possibly to turn you against that hedgehog I encountered yesterday-"

"Sonic?"

Now it all came together: Robotnik had tricked him yet again! As the old saying goes: 'fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me'.

"Noooo!!!!!!" Knuckles cried.

He had betrayed his best friend.

to be continued...


	2. Revalations

Banshee Universe - 2 - Revelations

_Knuckles... Relax... My mind to your mind... My thoughts to your thoughts..._

Knuckles felt Latifah's voice in his head, stabbing like a razor-thin knife. But he felt no pain. There was a jumble of images, of him being dragged behind Sonic... _he just wasn't fast enough to keep up..._ Sonic standing over him, looking very worried... _What was this?_ Sonic helping him up... _Pain! Pain! Can't feel my legs..._

Love... he felt it, thinking of Sonic. _Sonic... Could you ever forgive me? Help!!! I'm alone..._

_You're not alone, Knuckles, I'm here..._

It was Latifah. He could feel her presence, sweeping away all those lying voices. The mind link was pleasent, making Knuckles forget all pain for a few moments.

Then, slowly, the banshee eased out of the echidna's mind, leaving him refreshed, yet also guilt-ridden. He stirred restlessly, and winced in pain.

"Knuckles, you should rest now," Latifah said, after breaking the link.

"I'm not tired," he protested, "I'm hungry..."

"Don't worry, I'll get some food and med-supplies. Now stop moving around so much! You don't wanna tear your stitches, do you?"

The echidna shook his head, and let his rescuer carry him to a shelter that she had built.

"Now stay out of trouble," Latifah joked, as she left.

Knuckles quirked a smile as he drifted off to sleep.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Latifah knew what she had to do. She was going to have to steal medical supplies from her own people, the ones who had rejected her.

She returned to her camp at night without her field-jacket, knowing that there would be questions. No problem; she had known how to hide her thoughts since she was a child. All she had to do was act natural, sneak into the supply depot, and get what she needed.

She made her way to the camp, which was empty except for a guard, Evan 15.

He walked up to her and asked, "Where were you? We were looking everywhere!"

"I was hiding from a native," Latifah answered, a half-truth.

Evan seemed to believe her, since he nodded and smiled.

"Well, did you see any swat-bots or anything else of interest?"

"No"

"Ok, then we'll conduct a pre-emptive strike tomorrow. Those SWATbots are a nuisence"

Latifah thought for a moment what to say next. Then she continued:

"I would like to go back to my post, but I'll need some more medical supplies"

"Ok, help yourself," Evan said, unaware of what the girl was about to do.

As he walked into the supply building, Latifah suddenly poked the back of his head with her finger, as if pretending it was a gun. She absorbed all the information she needed, and hid the unconscious soldiar.

After getting the supplies she needed, she decided to take some food as well. Cramming all the rations she could fit in her duffel bag, she ran, knowing that Evan would soon be awake.

There was enough food to last a few months, as well as medical supplies, and Latifah had enough medical knowledge to care for a paralyzed patient. She had it all worked out perfectly: tend to the echidna until he can be dropped off at wherever the Freedom Fighters' base was, and then retreat to the forest.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Sonic and Sally decided to go searching for this mysterious human, who Sonic described as 'black as night'. They looked all over where she was supposed to have been, but there was no sign of her.

"Sonic, I'm sorry, but maybe she just doesn't want to be bothered"

"Look," Sonic replied, "She was here, and she heard me rambling about Knuckles!"

"Maybe she was more afraid of you then you were of her"

Sonic sighed.

"I guess you're right. It used to be, there were the good guys and then there were the bad guys; but now, it's so confusing. I'm not young anymore! And I wish I still was; then all I'd be worried about would be gettin' the toy I wanted for my birthday"

"I know that feeling. Many times I feel like I've grown up too soon, which is why I haven't made Tails a Freedom Fighter yet. I want him to keep his innocence while he still can, because once it's gone, it's gone for good"

Sonic nodded.

"And even if I could get it back, I wouldn't want to," Sonic added, "Because I know I would be blinding myself to the truth. I guess we just can't win, huh?"

Sally smiled and shook her head.

"Nope"

They glanced at each other and thought about the night they had together. How were they going to explain that to the others?

"Look, Sonic," Sally said, "If I'm not pregnant, then no one needs to know this happened"

"What happened?" Sonic joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"But I don't know what to do..."

"Well, if you are expecting, I'll marry you. I'm not gonna run out on you, Sal"

****************************************************************************************************************************

Meanwhile, Snively was in one of the factories, with two big-breasted, short-haired women. He was supposed to be working in the control-room, but he didn't care; he had more important things on his mind. And those busty-yet-masculine women happened to take a higher priority then the reports.

Those two women, he knew, were also involved with each other, but he didn't really care, just as long as they gave him some.

Right now, they were all drinking some beer that the women had brewed in their ship. This liquer, which was brewed in the engine-room, was illegal in the Human Confederation, but the law was not very enforcable in the outer-regions. And Mobius, the site of a failed terraforming project, was virtually ignored. The planet's only purpose now was to house a bunch of non-people known as banshees, syrins, or lorleis(luhr-lys).

Earth, the original home of the humans, was a wasteland, it's plant and animal-life preserved, but all beauty ravaged. The desolate planet was now covered in domes, like most of the other planets populated by humans.

"So what's Julian up to now?" one of the women, Carley asked.

"I don't know. Something to do with taking over the planet, but those pesky Mobians won't let him"

"Well, I'd like to keep one of them as a pet," the other woman, Donna said.

Her girlfriend looked at her and smiled.

"Which one?"

"That half-robot rabbit, or that hedgehog. He _is_ kinda cute"

Carley kissed her, and then Snively, not wanting to leave him deprived.

"Don't worry, love," she said, "When Snively takes over, you can have all the pets you want. We'll even de-roboticize some of them, if you like"

Donna carressed her lover on the back and the face, and kissed her on the mouth.

"Just don't kill too many of them. They're all so cute"

"Don't worry your pretty little head, Donna," she purred, "Now, let's not waste any more time. You know what we're here for, don't you?"

"Oh, yes," Donna said, kissing both Carley and Snively.

****************************************************************************************************************************

"Latifah, what are you doing?" Knuckles asked, curious at the way the human-no-banshee was flexing his legs.

A tissue-regenerator had helped heal his wounds and knit his spine, so he could move without dislocating it.

"It's called physical therepy," Latifah said, "It's supposed to keep the muscles and tendons in your legs flexible"

"But what good is that if I'm not gonna be able to use them again?"

"You just might, given the technological advancements," Latifah answered, "And besides, if your legs don't move, the blood-flow will get sluggish and you'll be suceptable to infections"

Knuckles made a face.

"Sounds like fun"

There was a long silence. Then the echidna spoke again:

"So, you stole the med-kits?"

Latifah nodded, smiling. The little guy sure was growing on her, which was not good. She could not let herself get attached to her patient, or she would risk a run-in with the locals.

Then, there was a loud rumble that startled both banshee and echidna. Latifah walked out of the shelter and levitated, scanning to see what was going on. What she saw shook her to the very bone.

It was a strange looking aircraft with a gigantic laser-port. What was going on?

Latifah returned to the shelter with a worried look on her face. Knuckles sensed that something was up.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know, but a very large craft is flying above Robotropolis-"

At the word 'Robotropolis', Knuckles felt like he was punched in the back of the head. And it wasn't an after-effect of the pathogen. Robotnik was on his way to wipe out all the organics on Mobius!

"It's Robotnik!" Knuckles exclaimed, with both worry and guilt in his voice, "You gotta stop him!"

"But I can't!" Latifah protested, "Mobians generally don't like my kind!"

"You must try!" he pleaded, "The lense is the master emerald!"

The banshee's eyes widened. _Master emerald?!? That would make a laser powerful enough to blow the whole planet to Kingdom Come!!!_

"In that case, you're coming with me!"

Latifah strapped him to her back. Even though most banshees were telekinetics, they could not concentrate on very many objects at a time, and Latifah did not want to test the extent of her powers on her friend.

They flew towards the ship, their world suddenly growing dark. Latifah saw an opening in the craft, and levitated through it.

Dark, but no problem for Knuckles, who had night-vision. The banshee made a connection with him, and closed her eyes. It was amazing, this symbiosis. Knuckles was her eyes, and she was his legs. No banshee had ever tried that before.

Then, Latifah's telepathic powers sensed Sonic. He was very close, looking for the control-room and Robotnik. They decided to take a different route, to avoid any confrontations.

What to do next? Latifah thought.

Then, eyes still closed, she ran down a corridor, and climbed up a ladder. Knuckles saw something of interest up there, and had the banshee destroy some power-cables with her tek-charges.

"That oughtaa keep him busy," he said, verbally as well as telepathically.

They made their way through the ship, Latifah's tek-charges pushing aside the SWATbots, and Knuckles showing the way. They both knew where Robotnik was, and they would have to take care of him or thousands would suffer.

****************************************************************************************************************************

"Sir, sensors have detected intruders near the power-relays" a SWATbot reported.

Robotnik just slammed on the console and cursed.

"Capture that hedgehog!" he ordered.

"It is not the hedgehog, sir, the intruders are a human and echidna"

"Human?"

"Affirmative"

"How the hell did she get in here??? Unless... No that's impossible! A banshee?"

It couldn't be! The banshees had never gotten this close before! Their lack of coordination rendered their tek-powers almost useless, strong as they were. But this one was probably mind-linked with the echidna...

"Oh, s***!" he cursed to himself. This was not good at all...

And his troubles were just going to get worse.

"Alright, Robuttnik! Payback-time!"

The mad scientist turned around. It was Sonic, messing things up as usual.

"After him!" Robotnik ordered, losing his cool because of the two other saboteurs.

The swat-bots started shooting at Sonic, but he was too fast for them. One by one, they were destroyed by the faster-then-lightning hedgehog. Robotnik obviously was not thinking straight, and Sonic decided to take advantage of that.

"Well, Robutt-head, what's wrong? Not feelin' well?"

He laughed as he dove for the fat ugly human.

Robotnik was barely able to get out of the way, and didn't know what to do because his mind was elseware. The banshee meant business; he was sure of that. How the hell was he going to stop it?

Just as he was recovering, he heard another familliar voice:

"Hey, fatso! Remember me?"

Robotnik looked up to see a young ebony-skinned girl with Knuckles strapped to her back. The girl's eyes were closed, but the echidna was staring right at him, his eyes full of fire. And his evil grin suggested that he was on to the mad scientist's trickery.

_Oh, no_, he thought, _I'm finished!_

****************************************************************************************************************************

Suddenly, Latifah froze.

She saw some weird flashes. A strange woman was fighting with Robotnik, only to be over-powered by a few simple words. She motioned for Latifah to leave the room, as Robotnik proceeded to smack her in the face with his fist...

Then she was in a strange compartment, with a bright light, just a bright white light that burned her chest. And there were voices...

Another flash: she was in her room, her mother was bruised, one of her eyes was shut and bleeding.

...Latifah, you gotta run away! Go! Now! Before your daddy finds out!

...But Mommy, I love you...

Back in the compartment:

...Hurts! Burning... Burning my chest... Where am I? What is this?

In the room with mother:

...Latifah, darling, I love you too, and that's why you need to go! Run! Hurry, before daddy gets back!

...I don't wanna go away! I'm scared...

...Scared... Hurts... Where Am I? Who am I???

...Mommy!!!

****************************************************************************************************************************

When she regained her senses, Sonic and Robotnik were having at it. She got behind the scientist and positioned her fingers around his head, boaring deep into his mind for the codes to the self-destruct mechanism. When she was done, Robotnik slumped to the floor, while the banshee walked over to the control-pannel and set the craft for self-destruct.

The alarm sounded, and Sonic made a bee-line for an opening in the aircraft and parachuted out. Latifah decided that she didn't want to stay for the fireworks either.

She levitated out and watched the ship explode as she landed back in the tree.

Knuckles wanted to appologize to Sonic, but he knew that after his betrayal the hedgehog would not be so quick to forgive.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Sonic saw what had happened, and he was curious as to who that human was. Whoever she was, she had just saved the Great Forest and Knothole. _But why was Knuckles strapped to her back? What was going on?_

to be continued...


	3. Cross My Heart And Hope To Die

The Banshee Universe - 3 - Cross My Heart & Hope To Die...

In the midst of the wreckage, in Robotropolis, Robotnik lay half-conscious and badly-injured.

What was going on? Everything was throbbing. His head was pounding, he was confused, didn't even know who he was. He remembered a woman, though. Latifah. And an echidna...

Strange... He was surrounded by robots, some that looked like animals...

That woman! She was his lover! Latifah, who went to bed with him every night, to rescue... animals?

He had to get up. He just had to. Had to fix the aircraft... some project... The lense... something about a lense... but what???

_Uncle..._

A voice was speaking to him, a strangely familliar voice, stuffy and nasal...

_Uncle..._

"What..."

"It's me, Snively, 'Uncle'" the voice said.

"Uncle? Is that my name?" he asked.

****************************************************************************************************************************

The midget looked down at the bulk of his uncle and smiled. _Like shooting fish in a barrel..._

"No, your name is Julian," Snively said.

It wasn't _really_ a lie; but his uncle, for some reason, had chosen to change his name to Robotnik.

The assistant snickered. Now _he_ was going to be the one to call the shots. No more being pushed around by lard-belly.

"Julian..." the fat man mumbled, before passing out again.

Oh, yes, it would be easy... No one to stand in his way, except for those pesky fur-balls.

Snively knew nothing about the banshee, since he wasn't often kept in the loop...

****************************************************************************************************************************

Meanwhile, back at the Banshee camp, Evan woke up. He had been out for several hours. Whoever knocked him out had invaded his mind. He remembered going into the storage shed for something, then it was all a blank.

He got up and brushed himself off and returned to his station. He would probably get a reprimend for negligence, or even a demotion. _Of all the lousy luck_. And Latifah 27 was still missing.

"EVAN!" came an angry voice from outside the shed.

"Wha-" he said, still groggy.

"What the hell have you been doing?" an older man, Commander Jared 84 demanded.

"I dunno, sir" Evan answered.

"What happened? You look like s***!"

"I think someone invaded my mind, sir"

"Well, you better get back to your station, before the sergent gets here or there'll be hell to pay!"

"Yes, sir"

****************************************************************************************************************************

Latifah and Knuckles were still hiding out in the forest, sleeping most of the time, or discussing their dysfunctional childhoods.

{I don't think I ever had a real friend outside my family, besides you}

{Yeah, I know the feeling. I guess it's our lot in life,} Knuckles joked.

"Well, you're not gonna believe this," Latifah said, this time verbally, "But I don't have a belly-button. I know you don't have one because you were hatched, but I was labeled a freak."

"Really? I'm the only echidna with that white mark," Knuckles replied, pointing to the mark on his chest.

"Wow. I thought all echidnas had it"

Knuckles shook his head.

"It was given to me when I was chosen to be the guardian of Floating Island"

"At least you don't have a psycho as a father," Latifah laughed.

"Yeah, but we're both in deep trouble"

They both laughed.

The banshee wanted to tell him that she also had a white mark on her chest, but she didn't think it wise. Then, she felt a familliar mental-signiture coming their way. _Sonic! And several others!_

"Quick! We gotta get moving! Now!"

Latifah took Knuckles and the duffel bag and flew off. She could feel her powers weakening a bit, but didn't think much about it.

****************************************************************************************************************************

"What's goin' on?" Bunny Rabbot wondered, as she and the other Freedom Fighters looked at the human flying off into the distance.

"I don't know," Sonic said, "But I think it was that dark human who pulverized Robuttnik"

"That was the girl who picked you up without touching you?" Sally asked, finally comprehending what Sonic had told her.

Sonic nodded.

"Well, we'd better investigate. She could be a powerful ally"

"I am not knowing if it is wise to be chasing ze human," Antoine said, cowering as usual.

"Antoine," Sonic began.

"Oui?"

"Shut up!"

At that, Antoine stuck his nose in the air.

"Harummph!"

Sally shook her head. _Typical._

"Come on! Let's go!" she ordered.

****************************************************************************************************************************

"So, someone got Robotnik?" Carley asked.

"Yes, and whoever it was wiped his mind. He doesn't remember a thing!" Snively said with glee.

"What're we gonna do with him now?" Donna asked.

"Make him work for us," Snively answered, "And abuse him like he abused me! Ha ha ha!"

"Oh, you do have good ideas!"

Donna kissed him, not out of love, but because he was really the only man who was interested in her. He was the only human, in fact, besides Carley, who gave her the time of day.

Her kiss was interrupted by Carley squeezing her arm flirtingly.

"There will be plenty of time for that, love. Now let's get to work at finding the chaos emeralds"

"Of course, Dear"

She kissed Carley, passionately, before getting to her station. None of them noticed a figure standing in the shadows.

****************************************************************************************************************************

_What in tarnation???_ Charles thought to himself.

Whoever it was that wiped Robotnik's mind had opened another can of worms. Now Snively was in control, and if he knew Snively right, the bastard would take over the place, then discard the women like gum-wrappers.

The roboticized hedgehog cursed under his breath. He was not one to curse, but this was unnerving to say the least. He had to tell Sonic...

****************************************************************************************************************************

Meanwhile, Latifah was heading for a remote part of the forest, knowing that she was being persued. Odd that she couldn't sense their thoughts as clearly as she should've...

She felt it getting increasingly difficult to levitate. What was happening? Whatever it was, Latifah would have to land, or crash and kill both herself and Knuckles. She saw a soft area and decided to land.

The banshee set Knuckles down and ran as fast as she could. She tried to levitate, but couldn't get off the ground. She hid behind a bush and watched as the natives, one of them she knew to be Sonic, gather around the echidna.

"I can't walk," Latifah heard Knuckles say.

"You guys take him to Knothole, while I go see who this human is," Sonic said.

Latifah ran, not looking back. She made for the mountains, but was stopped by a hedgehog that seemed to just appear right in front of her.

"Alright," he demanded, "Who are you, and what are you doing with Knuckles?"

"Please don't hurt me!"

Latifah was freezing up again, like she always did when in an unfamilliar situation.

"I'm not gonna hurt you! Just tell me what you did to Robuttnik! And why can't Knuckles walk?"

The banshee was scared, and couldn't think straight. She was hyperventillating, which Sonic found rather odd.

The hedgehog thought, _I was just asking her a simple question, so why is she all worked up?_

"You don't need to be scared! I won't hurt you! Cross my heart and hope to die-"

"Stick a hedgehog in my eye," Latifah finished.

Sonic gave her a funny look.

"What???" he laughed.

"That was what I used to say, because a hedgehog is a whole lot sharper then one needle!"

Sonic blushed.

"Well then, now that we broke the ice, what's your name?"

"Latifah"

"Mine's Sonic"

"I know," Latifah said.

"You do? But how-oh yeah, you were with Knuckles, which remindes me, why can't he walk?"

"Well," The banshee began, "He was in Robotropolis, and he was dying. When I rescued him, I found that Robotnik had manually severed his spine, and fitted him with an adamantine implant"

"What?!?"

The hedgehog was beginning to understand why his friend was acting so strange. Adamantine was poisonous, but he never knew it to cause changes in behavior.

"And that's not all," Latifah continued, "Knuckles' spine was only bruised; I found that out when I invaded Robotnik's mind. He had fooled Knuckles into thinking that his spine was severed by you moving him around, and later subjected him to hallucinogenic gas and subliminal messages. He convinced Knuckles that you were using him as a shield-"

"And that's why he tried to kill me! Oohh, that sonofab****! When I get my hands on Robuttnik, I'm gonna make him pay!"

"I think someone beat ya to it," came a voice from a few yards away.

"Why is that, Sally?" Sonic asked, sounding a bit worried.

The squirrel showed him a computer with a small view-screen. The screen showed a male hedgehog, obviously alot older then Sonic, and made of metal.

"Uncle Chuck? What's goin' on?"

"Robotnik lost his memory. I don't know who did it, Sonny, but I think it was either Snively or one of his lady-friends"

Sonic gagged at the thought of that ugly human having a girlfriend, let alone two.

"Uh, e-excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt, but I know who did it," Latifah said.

"Well, spit it out, human"

"Her name's Latifah, and she did it!" Sonic answered for her, "She saved Knothole and one of my best friends!"

"Well, hi there, Latifah! Didn't know there was any good humans"

"Um, pardon me, but I'm not really considered a human, I mean, not by other humans," Latifah said.

"Oh, then what are ya?"

"I'm a banshee. My people descended from the humans, but they didn't like us so they exiled us here"

"Banshees? You mean you can kill people by screamin'?"

Latifah laughed.

"No. That's known as the 'burning'. When someone dies near a banshee, the banshee will feel it and absorb the soul. The transition is rough on the body and mind, causing an intense burning and sometimes killing a weak banshee"

"Oh. Is that how you got Robotnik?"

"No. The chaos emeralds mutated my people, strengthening their powers. I invaded his mind, something I wasn't able to do until very recently. Like the other Mobian banshees, I'm also a telekinetic, or I was. Something's wrong with my powers"

The old hedgehog chuckled.

"Welcome to the Freedom Fighters, Latifah... didn't catch your last name"

"We don't have last names. We have identification-numbers. Mine's 27"

"Latifah 27, hmmm... kinda has a nice ring to it, but you need a real last name, not a number. You're not a prisoner, ya know"

"Kintobar"

"What?" the three Mobians asked at once.

"Either that or Robotnik. He's my father"

'Oh my gosh' Sally mouthed.

"How did you find that out?" Sonic asked.

"I had a flash when I was in the aircraft. He was hitting my mom. She told me to run away, and I never saw her again"

"Oh," Sally said, then snapped back to command-mode, "We'd better take you to knothole"

"But-"

"Don't worry. Sonic told the others about a certain human-I mean banshee who blew up Robotnik's death-machine"

"What about Knuckles? Please don't arrest him! Arrest me instead-"

"No one's gonna be arrested! Now come on! let's get back to Knothole before it gets dark!"

"And I'd better get movin'. Good luck," Chuck said, as the picture dissolved to static.

Sally switched the computer off, then all three ran to catch up with the others.

Knuckles was being carried on a stretcher, and would be examined when they reached the village. Latifah found she could still read his mind, but no one else's. _Strange... What was wrong?_

to be continued...


	4. The Master Emerald

The Banshee Universe - 4 - The Master Emerald

Warning! Banshee/echidna romance in this chapter!

Also, a Fleetway character will make a special-appearance. This character is different from the Fleetway counterpart, and may be o.o.c.

And there will be cameos from other characters from the Archie-SatAM universe...

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ok, Cat, your team will go here," Sally said, pointing to a location on her map.

She pointed to another place, "And St. John, your team will go here"

"I can easily find the emerald," Knuckles interrupted.

"Knuckles-"

"Look, I can still sense the emerald. I'll just need someone to carry me to it"

"I know, but-"

"Latifah can carry me. She can't levitate, but she can still connect with me. My island can't stay up much longer! I need to find the master emerald, or it might fall where people are living! I can't let innocent people die because of my stupidity!"

He wheeled himself out of the conference hut in a huff and activated the lift. Latifah followed, kneeling so she wouldn't tower over him.

{Look, I know you're angry, but-}

"Of course I'm angry!" he answered, getting some funny stares from the other mobians, "It's my fault that we're in this mess! The least I can do is help fix it!"

"Knuckles, it's not your fault! And right now you need to get used to the fact that we're both crippled! We can't do what we did back in that machine because my powers don't work. I don't know when they'll come back, if they ever will!"

The echidna stopped and sighed, shaking his head. Latifah put her hand on his shoulder and could feel the tingle going down both of their spines. That phenomenon was common in banshee couplings, but a banshee-mundane?

"We'll find the emerald," she said, "I promise. Now, time for your physical therepy"

They headed for Knuckles' hut.

Once inside, she lifted the echidna out of the wheelchair and onto his bed. The hut had all the basic amenities, furniture, a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen. There wasn't much in the way of entertainment, like the virtual reality Latifah frequently immersed herself in.

But she didn't really need it now. Caring for Knuckles was more then enough to help her ignore the pain that she had felt for all those years. Latifah was used to isolation, since few people were friendly to her. Now she had turned her back on the people who turned their backs on her. And she didn't regret it at all.

Latifah had been blessed, finally had friends, including the one she was doctoring at the moment.

She removed the braces from Knuckles's legs. They were there to keep the tendons in his ankles from shrinking and deforming his feet. The braces basically kept the feet flat, because he couldn't move them and they could easily curl up.

Absentmindedly, Latifah began to gently stroke the echidna's legs. They were already beginning to atrophy.

{Latifah, what are you doing?}

"Wha-?" She started.

"Omigosh! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have-"

"No, it's ok"

"I-i mean... I crossed a line... I-"

"It's ok. You can touch me if you want," Knuckles reassured her, "But I would prefer if you did that where I can still feel"

Latifah laughed nervously. She was experiencing strange feelings, like what she felt when she was near a boy. _Could it be..._

And She could sense that Knuckles was feeling the same thing, which she thought was impossible even for a human in his condition...

"But-well... it's kinda awkward-I mean... the way I'm feeling-I-"

Knuckles took off his gloves and carressed her ebony face.

"It's ok. Don't worry"

Latifah gazed into the echidna's eyes, and felt tears forming in hers. Knuckles wiped them away and held her close, kissing her all over.

It felt strange being kissed by an echidna, his muzzle being a bit on the hairy side, but then again hairy was probably the norm for humans too. Latifah didn't know, since she had never been kissed by a man before, banshee or otherwise.

She grunted and sighed in pleasure as Knuckles kissed her, finally reaching her mouth. It was the bridge, something that happened only with true love, bridging the gap and temporarily making the paralyzed lover whole. But Latifah wasn't ready to go that far...

The banshee shrieked, abruptly snapping both herself and Knuckles out of their shared trance. Her shriek was typical of a banshee; high-pitched and ear-splittingly loud. It had something to do with the different vocal-cord configuration in her kind.

"Is something wrong?" came a voice from outside.

They turned to see a mobian with a weird hairdo. She was dressed in a blue, loose-fitting outfit and flip-flops, and was wearing a pearl necklace.

"No, nothing," they answered.

"Well, why don't you tell him?" she laughed.

"Tell him what?" Latifah demanded.

The mobian rolled her eyes, or at least gave the impression she was rolling them; her perm hid them from view.

"Like, for instance, you have the mark of the guardian," she said before leaving.

Knuckles was confused. He was the guardian, wasn't he?

"What is she, psychic???"

Knuckles looked at her funny.

"It's true," Latifah said, taking her fatigue off.

Even though she had breasts, they didn't arouse any feelings in Knuckles, since echidnas, though mammals, didn't have breasts[author's note: while the female echidnas do have breasts in the archie comics, I'm making the ones in my fics more like earth echidnas, anatomy-wise. also, the females don't have that patch of unruly hair growing out of their heads and looking like weeds, since it does nothing for them(come on, why can't the females let all their hair dred-up?]. Right on her chest, like a fancy neck of a low-cut dress, was the mark of the guardian.

"What does this mean?"

"I don't know," Latifah said, "Please don't be mad at me-"

"I'm not; it's just rather weird that a banshee would have the mark of the guardian, when my people have never heard of your kind before"

"Wait a minute. I just realized something. Remember how I told you I don't have a belly-button?"

Knuckles nodded.

"Well, things just get weirder and weirder..."

****************************************************************************************************************************

Meanwhile, back in Robotropolis, Sir Charles watched Robotnik assembling something, but he didn't know what. And when the human saw the roboticized hedgehog, he cowered against some equipment.

"Please don't hurt me, Mr. Hedgehog..."

Chuck stroked his moustash, which was un-touched by the roboticization. _Maybe I could take advantage of this_, he thought.

Now, the old scientist/knight was usually not one to take advantage of anyone, but this was different. He didn't want Robotnik to get back his memory too quickly.

"Don't worry, I ain't gonna hurt ya'. Just don't do anything funny, got that?"

Chuck sounded a little stern, but couldn't help it; he was still very angry and wanted to kill the doctor. In fact, he was thinking of doing just that as soon as he had no need for the amnesiac tyrant.

But there was something inside telling him not to...

****************************************************************************************************************************

Donna was looking at some files concerning the takeover of Mobotropolis. From what she read, most of the Mobians were robiticized, with a handfull escaping. And the King was bannished to the Void...

_What was this? These animals had a society of their own?_

Then, she noticed Robotnik-no-Julian, following a roboticized hedgehog, and an old one at that...

Must be related to Sonic, she thought. He would make a nice pet...

Donna activated the comm. unit:

"Snively! Carley!"

"Yes?" came the answer.

"Robotnik is disobeying orders. And he's with a robot-hedgehog. Please bring them to me, and de-roboticize the hedgehog"

"I don't know about that, Ronna.," Snively said, "He's been causing alot of trouble. I strongly suggest getting other, younger animals for-"

"Please???" Donna pleaded, fake-crying, "I want a pet!"

"Ok, but he's old, and he's trouble," Carley warned, before de-activating her comm.

Donna sat and pondered what she had just done. _Why was she suddenly wanting to free those animals? Well, too late to turn back now..._

****************************************************************************************************************************

"Latifah is still missing," Jarad 84 said.

"Find her," a female voice replied.

"But she's of no concern to us-"

"She did this," the woman said, "She stole our powers!"

"But she's a weakling. How could she possibly steal our powers when she can't even move a pebble?"

"She's not as weak as you were lead to believe," the woman said, "After all, she did mind-rape Evan, did she not? And then she stole our powers!"

"But Madame, why not just search for her yourself?"

"Don't 'Madame' me!" she snapped, "I cannot be bothered with that miserable child anymore! Damping her powers has taken it's toll on me, and I need my rest"

The woman sighed wearily.

"Take this," she continued, holding out a piece of green crystal, which looked like the insignia of the banshee millitia.

"What is it... no-it can't be..."

"Yes, a chaos emerald," the woman laughed, "And if we find enough of them, we will reclaim what is ours. Now go!"

"As you wish," Jarad said as he took the gem, still unsure of what to think.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Charles ran, not looking back. Someone had found him out, and was chasing him.

The hedgehog fired at the SWATbots, but there were too many of them. Then, a net engulfed him. He looked up to see a strange-looking human, a female, with short brown hair.

His captor threw him into the roboticizer.

_The roboticizer??? But he was already a robot!!!!! What was that woman doing?????_

A familliar glow filled the machine, and when it died down, Chuck looked at his hands to see that they were organic! They had de-roboticized him, for what reason he did not know.

Then, the woman grabbed the surprised hedgehog and put a leash on him.

"Hey, missy, didn't anybody tell ya to respect yer elders?" the aged hedgehog scolded.

"Shut-up!" came the answer.

"Well, ya can't blame a guy fer askin'-"

"Look, I don't know why she wants you, of all the mangy fur-balls on this dirt-clod, but who am I to question her taste in pets?"

_Pets???? He was going to be some human's pet?????_

****************************************************************************************************************************

"What???"

Sally was shocked as she saw Latifah's mark.

"It's true," the banshee said, "I don't understand it, but somehow, I'm an echidna. That's the only explaination I have, since the echidnas have never encountered my kind before Robotnik"

"Interesting," Rotor said as he examined the mark, "It looks like it was burned there with a laser, Just like the one on Knuckles"

"Well, can I put my shirt back on now?" Latifah asked.

"Of course"

"Thank you"

{I think he was enjoying it a little too much,} She thought to Knuckles, who repressed a guffaw.

"By the way," Latifah said, "We had an interesting conversation with a woman in a blue getup"

"What?" Sally asked.

"You know, has that weird hair-do that covers her eyes?"

Sally chuckled.

"Oh, yeah. Don't mind her"

"But if Latifah's an echidna," Knuckles began, "Why does she have five fingers? My people only have three fingers!"

"Beats the hell out of me," Rotor answered.

"Well," Sally said, "We need to get ready for the mission. Latifah, you come with us. Knuckles, you know first-aid?"

The echidna nodded.

"Ok, you'll help with the incoming wounded. Come on, let's move!"

****************************************************************************************************************************

"What in tarnation is goin' on?" an indignant hedgehog demanded, as he was thrown at the feet of a blond woman in a dusty uniform.

The woman smiled sweetly and grabbed him, kissing him all over.

"Aw, heh heh, that tickles... stop..."

Then, when the doors closed, his 'owner' whispered something in his ear.

"Eh, what was that?"

"Just play along. I'm tryin' to help you," she repeated, before smooching him again.

"Ok," Charles whispered, "but just one thing"

"What?"

"Mouthwash"

****************************************************************************************************************************

"Ok, Freedom Fighters, you know what to do," Sally said over the comm.

.They were about a mile away from Robotropolis, and would attack when Tails gave the signal.

Latifah nervously stared at her gun. This was real, she knew, and it wouldn't be so easy.

Sonic was also getting rather antsy. He hadn't gotten word from Uncle Chuck, and was worried that something had happened to him.

But they both had to put things like that aside, as there were more pressing matters at the moment.

A flare lit up the sky. Tails had given the signal.

Latifah and her troop ran toward Robotropolis, screaming at the top of their lungs.

Latifah wasn't feeling very sure of herself now. She didn't know if she could do this...

****************************************************************************************************************************

The mobian hid in some shrubbery, nervously scanning the area. Someone was following her, and had a chaos emerald like the one she had. Only this one was stronger.

She sat still, but it was no use. Whoever was looking for her could sense her psy-waves. She had to run.

"Ha! What do we have here?" came a voice from behind, causing the anthropomorph to lose control of her bladder for a moment.

"Who sent you, Jarad?" she asked, regaining her composure.

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know?"

The mobian turned to face him and gripped her chaos emerald, her eyes glowing.

"Stay away from me!"

Then she sent Jarad flying. He landed several miles away, using his psy-powers to soften his landing. That Latifah was strong, and had excellent reaction-time. _But why the mobian disguise?_

to be continued...


	5. More Trouble

Author's note: ok, I think it's understood that I don't own any of the characters that appear in SatAM Sonic or the comics. If I did, I would not be writing stories about them on Fanfiction.net; I would be making money off of them as I speak;)

Also, I do not own any other copyrighted characters from any of my other fics, so let's just leave it at that so I can stop wasting precious space with these stupid disclaimers!!!

****************************************************************************************************************************

Latifah had no time to think. All she knew was there were at least ten SWATbots coming her way, and she was dead meat if she didn't shoot.

It was hard to see in the dark building, but the banshee had no choice; Knuckles could not come because he would be cumbersome to carry.

A blast from one of the SWATbots hit Latifah, singing her right shoulder.

"Aargh!!! Sonofab****!" she yelled, before letting out another round of blasts from her gun.

Then, a woman with short brown hair appeared and started firing. And a blonde woman was carrying off an unconcious Bunnie.

Latifah's head swam. This was not supposed to happen! But then again, in war, one must always expect the unexpected.

****************************************************************************************************************************

"Bunnie Rabbot's been captured!" a Freedom Fighter's voice crackled over the radio.

"What?" a shocked Sally yelled.

Oh, no! They're gonna roboticize her!

"She's been captured by some strange human, and the weird part is, the human looked like it was hugging her, like a stuffed toy!"

"What the hell...?" Sally mumbled to herself.

She felt her stomach jump.

Odd... Sally had been in situations twice as stressful and never experienced any nausea...

"Retreat!" she yelled into her radio, "We're gonna have to re-"

Her order was interrupted by the forceful expulsion of the contents of her stomach.

"Are you alright?" came Sonic's worried voice over the radio.

"Mph! I'm fine-" Sally answered, throwing up a second time, "We gotta get outaa here! Regroup!"

"Right, Sal!" Sonic replied, still sounding concerned.

The squirrel fled the building she was in, ignoring the vomit that now decorated her fur and vest.

"It's gonna be hell gettin' this s*** out," she grumbled.

****************************************************************************************************************************

In Carley and Donna's ship, Charles was sleeping in his 'cage', which was furnished with blankets, and had dishes for food and water.

Donna had secretly given him the key, which meant he could get out when he needed to.

"I may be an 'animal'," he explained, "But I wasn't raised in a barn!"

He had to be careful, though, since Donna and Carley shared the same room, as well as the same bed. They also would make love, right where he could see, forcing him to hide under the blanket or pretend to sleep so as not to view their choreography.

Chuck heard the women coming back, so he crawled under the blanket and hid the device he was working on.

"Oh, Chuckie! I got friend for you!"

Donna was carrying Bunnie Rabbot in her arms.

"Bunnie? What didja do t' her?" he demanded, pretending to hate her.

"Oh, her's just takin a wittwe nap," Donna replied, talking baby-talk to make it look like the two mobians were just pets.

She opened the cage door and put Bunnie in. Then she and Carley both walked into the washroom, shedding their clothes as they did.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Back at Knothole...

"Incoming wounded!"

Knuckles was ready with his med-kit.

Triage. That was what he was reduced to. Not that it wasn't important, but he would rather be on the front-line, especially when the master-emerald and his island were at stake.

There were several wounded Freedom Fighters, but no sign of Bunnie.

He stopped to clean the wounds on one, stopping the bleeding and spraying the areas with antiseptic.

"Where's Latifah?" he asked.

"She's still on her way her," the Freedom Fighter answered, "Something weird happened back at Robotropolis"

"Yeah? What happened?"

"Bunnie was captured by some strange human, one who was supposedly 'hugging' her"

Knuckles raised an eyebrow.

"And that's not all; Uncle Chuck's missing, Sally threw up, and Latifah froze!"

"What???"

"Like I said, she was acting like she was in 'La-la Land'. We had to practically drag her out!"

That's odd, the echidna thought.

Knuckles finished cleaning the wounds, then waited for the next patient. But as the one he worked on was being taken to the next room, the echidna' leg-brace caught on the patient's sheet, pulling it off.

"Oh, s***!" Knuckles cursed.

****************************************************************************************************************************

The mobian psychic sneaked through the now quiet Robotropolis. She had found another emerald, this time, what looked like a piece of an emerald.

Glancing nervously around the room, she pocketed it.

The anthropomorph hated this place, hated the memories it gave her.

She wandered through the city, looking for more fragments, all the while keeping her guard up.

Jarad would be back, and if she wasn't careful, would succeed in whatever he had planned.

Neither one could reach the other one's thoughts; both people were well-versed at mind-shielding, and could only sense each other's psy-waves, the eminations made by all psychics.

Right now, she would just have to be on alert, and only sleep within the vicinity of Knothole. That way, Jarad couldn't capture her without allerting the natives and breaking the non-interference law.

Suddenly, she caught sight of a very familliar person. That did it. She made a bee-line for the exit.

****************************************************************************************************************************

"Well, here are the test-results," the doctor said.

Sally knew what he was about to say. That look in his eyes said it all.

"Y-you mean I'm pregnant?" she asked.

The doctor nodded.

"I wouldn't suggest an abortion, since it would be more traumatic on your body then a birth would"

"Oh, no," Sally said, "I would never ask for an abortion, unless it was a tubal-pregnancy. I would never harm my own flesh and blood"

"Well, people are going to find out, so I suggest you marry the father of your child, and I think I know who he is..."

Sally nodded and left the doctor's hut.

The squirrel walked to her own hut and into her room, and lay down on her bed.

She patted her tummy, knowing that there was a little person inside.

"Hello, little guy-or girl," Sally said, chuckling, "I'm your mommy!"

Then she sighed. Would Sonic marry her?

She walked to her mirror and looked at herself. There was a woman staring back at her, not a wide-eyed child.

Sally remembered, very well, the good old days, when she didn't have much to concern herself with...

Sally! Stay out of the mud!

Sally! Go to bed!

No, Sally, stay away from that. You could get hurt!

Now she was going to be a mother, and she was going to make sure her baby had a father as well. Sally didn't know her mother that well, since she died a couple years before Robotnik took over.

The squirrel turned to leave her room, but saw someone kneeling in front of her. She smiled, and took the ring from his outstretched hand.

"I do"

****************************************************************************************************************************

Latifah walked back to Knothole, pride bruised. She had frozen-up again, and almost got her team killed. It was like she was incomplete fighting there alone, without Knuckles.

She reached the village, and saw him, along with some others, treating the wounded.

My fault! All my fault! the banshee thought.

She hesitantly approached Knuckles, who was busily spraying antiseptic on a platypus. He looked up and smiled, but before he could speak, he started shaking.

Alarmed, Latifah caught the echidna before he could fall and injure himself. She looked at his eyes, and saw they were rolled back. Knuckles was having a seizure!

The banshee grabbed an oxygen-mask and put it over the echidna's muzzle.

"Breath! D***it! Breath!"

Oh, s***!

"Don't die! D***it! Don't die on me! Breath!"[author's note: I don't know if that's what you really do when a person is having a seizure; I just got that from the movie, 'The Bone-Collector']

Then, Knuckles took in a deep, sucking breath. His eyes were wide open, staring straight at Latifah.

"Knuckles! Say something!"

"Something," the echidna answered, before breaking into a weak laugh.

Latifah chuckled a little. She lifted the still-disoriented echidna off the ground, and onto a stretcher.

"What the hell happened?" Sonic asked, running from the Princess's hut.

"I don't know," Latifah replied, "But I think Knuckles just had an epileptic seizure"

"What?"

"That shot to the head back when you two were escaping from Robotropolis. It must've damaged his brain"

Sonic cursed.

"Well, you take over, while I check on him. I'll tell you how he's doing"

Latifah nodded, and started tending to the patient Knuckles was working on.

****************************************************************************************************************************

"You sure like those fur-balls, don't you, Donna?"

Donna smiled at her lover, then splashed her.

"Look, Donna, be serious," Carley said, "Those two mobians you got in there could be trouble. The New Confederation could take over any time, and if they found out we've been messing with the natives here, we can kiss our jobs and life as we know it 'good-bye'"

"Don't worry," Donna replied, "Thanks to Julian's work, we'll be in hiding before they get here. 'Short, stinky & ugly' won't know what hit him"

Carley laughed, then splashed Donna.

"Yes, Love, you and I are gonna get those emeralds, then become queens of Mobius. We won't have to deal with that bastard for long"

Donna kissed Carley on the mouth, and grabbed her. Carley giggled. She loved it when Donna was in the mood.

They continued in their sex-play. What Donna didn't know is that Carley had no plans to share her throne. She would leave Donna for the New Confederation officials, who would do who-knows-what with her.

While they were in the middle of love, Donna's legs began to hurt. She broke off abruptly and got out of the tub..

"Donna, what's wrong?" Carley asked.

"Oh, nothing... I just need to rest a little"

Donna limped out of the bathroom, while Carley stayed in the bathtub, thinking it was just one of those leg-cramps her lover would sometimes get.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Donna lay on her bed, her legs still hurting.

"What's wrawng?" Bunnie, now awake, drawled.

"I don't know. My legs hurt," Donna said.

She got up, but fell back on the bed. Her legs would not hold her up.

"You alright, Donna?" a concerned Chuck asked.

"I don't know... I'm gonna lay down for awhile... You know what to do..."

Donna lay back down on her bed and dozed off.

Chuck and Bunnie got out of the cage and stood by the washroom door. Whe Carley came out, Chuck grabbed her leg and bit it.

"OWCH!!! What the f***?!?"

The naked woman turned around and tried to get the old hedgehog off. She sat down on the floor and tried to shake her leg free, then felt a blow to her head, and passed out.

"Well, well, we do maik a good team, don't we?" Bunnie asked, her robotic arm obviously having met it's mark.

The two mobians tied up Carley and put her in the cage, and kept the key with them. There was only room for one human in the cage, so they would have to improvise with Snively.

"You call Snively, and Chuck an' I will do the rest, which is somethin' you look like you need, sugah!" Bunnie said.

"Ok, and nice job"

"He he! I hope she likes the 'present' I left for her," Chuck laughed.

Donna giggled, then reached for her comm.

Chuck and Bunnie positioned themselves by the door, while the now sickly-looking human contacted Snively, trying to sound seductive.

"Oh, Snively, someone wants you. It's very 'important'"

****************************************************************************************************************************

The mobian psychic sneaked back to Robotropolis. She was scared, but she had to do this. The fragments of the master emerald had to be gathered, or Knothole would be destroyed.

Robotnik or not, she would have to go back.

And the psychic could sense Jarad. He was close, and was obviously bent on capturing her, but for what?

She brushed the sweat from her perm. Her mouth was dry, but she was sweating heavily.

Then she saw that familiar face again, but he was tied up.

Strange...

The mobian walked up to the tied up Robotnik.

"H-hello?" he said, clearly frightened.

He doesn't even remember me... she thought.

"Julian," the mobian asked, "what happened?"

"Who are you?"

Who am I? It depends on who you are... And who I choose to be at the moment...

"Pyjamas"

to be continued...

***************************************************************************************************************************


	6. Answers And Questions

Warning! Some kawaii parts in this chapter!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Knuckles sighed. Because of his severed spinal-cord, spinal fluid was building up in his brain, and would have to periodically be drained to relieve pressure[got that from 'The Bone-Collector', as well as that part in chapter 5 where knuckles has a seizure. I don't know if that would really happen, but i'm just guessing]. If nothing was done, he would eventually become a vegetable, so he allowed them to perform that painful proceidure. Also, he had epilepsy, and would have to take medication for the rest of his life.

Great, now they're gonna treat me even more like an invalid. Just great! It's bad enough I'm a paraplegic!

Tentatively, he moved his head, steeling himself for another seizure. Nothing.

Knuckles sighed again.

Get a hold of yourself, Red. That's what Sonic would say. Latifah will take care of everything. She is a guardian, after all.

He looked at his wheelchair that was parked by his bed.

But what am I now?

The echidna threw the covers back and looked at his legs. Useless, just like me, he thought.

In another one of his fits of anger, Knuckles grabbed his pillow and tossed it accross the room.

"Good aim"

He turned to see a grinning Sonic.

"Thanks," he said, embarrased at his display.

Sonic chuckled.

"I'd hate to see what would happen if that pillow was meant for me"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. He knew what the hedgehog was hinting at. The scar from their last confrontation was healing, but would remain for the rest of his life, unless someone found a way to erase it.

The echidna half-smiled at Sonic's remark. He pushed himself up to a sitting-position and watched as the hedgehog retrieved the pillow and handed it to him.

"Here you go, Red"

"Thanks, Sonic. And by the way,"

"Yeah?"

"The name is Knuckles"

Chuckling again, Sonic sat down on Knuckles' bed and gave the echidna a playful shove.

"Just checkin' to see if your sense of humor's still intact," the hedgehog said, "Gave us quite a scare last night"

Knuckles laughed.

"Yeah, judging from Latifah's language, I'd say you two were pretty worried"

He thought for a moment and looked around.

"So, how's it with you and Sally?"

Sonic blushed and had a guilty look on his face.

Knuckles raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, I see..."

He chuckled at the thought.

"So, when is she due?"

"I don't know. But we're gonna get married. I love her, Red"

The echidna nodded, then lay back down and closed his eyes. He still wasn't feeling a hundred percent.

"Get well, Red," Sonic whispered, covering his friend back up.

Knuckles stirred a bit and made a faint noise, then went back to sleep.

Chuckling, Sonic left the hut and let his friend rest.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Jarad watched the community from the tree he was hiding in. No one knew he was there, except for that blasted Latifah.

That girl had been a nuisence ever since she arrived, and now she had turned into a criminal. He had to admit that her mother's methods of abuse were extreme, but her real mother was a whore, who would sell herself to Robotnik just to buy the natives a little time.

She had told him that, just before she left. Back when they were lovers, without a care in the world. She had sensed the evil scientist's presence, and could tell what would distract him.

"No! Don't go! Don't do this to yourself! And what about that baby you found?"

"I must!"

"At least let me care for her!"

"No! No one must know!"

"Know what? That you have a child without a father? So what? Most of the children today don't have fathers! I myself don't have a father, unless you count a test-tube!"

The beautiful dark woman gazed into his eyes, the gold fleck in her right eye sparkling in the fresh tears. She was trying to keep from crying; Jarad didn't need his powers to know that.

"Please, Jarad, trust me. You don't want to know! You just don't!"

"NO!!! COME BACK!!! COME BACK!!!"

But the young woman left, and with the baby that she had 'found' on a 'remote island'.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Back at Robotropolis, Snively abandoned his station to visit Donna. It was odd, though, that they were late for their watch. Someone had to make sure Julian didn't try anything.

When he got in Carley and Donna's room, Snively was alarmed to see Donna laying on her bed, half-asleep and pale, and even more so at seeing Carley in the animals' cage...

"What-???"

Then he felt two people grab him.

"Surprahsed t' see us?" Bunnie drawled, before knocking him out with her robotic arm.

****************************************************************************************************************************

The two mobians tied the midgit up and slipped him under Carley and Donna's bed.

"Now we gotta skee-dadd!" Charles said, grabbing Donna's hand.

Donna got up, but just stood there, her legs shaking, before they gave out again.

"What's wrawng with your legs, sugah?" Bunnie asked.

"I don't know," the woman answered, "But I can't walk! It hurts when I stand, and... and they-they just give out! I-I'm a cripple!"

Chuck swore under his breath.

"Well," he said, "We're just gonna hafta improvise, aren't we?"

"C'mon, sugah, just let me haindle it!"

With that, Bunnie broke off a piece of the bed and bent it to form a make-shift crutch. She gave it to Donna, who then quickly got dressed.

"Now let's get outaa here!" Chuck yelled.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Latifah trudged back to Knuckles' hut, which had also become her hut so she could care for him until he could build up his upper-body strenght and live independantly again.

She took off her field-jacket and fatigue, and washed her face. She stared at that ever-present white-mark which had graced her chest for as long as she could remember, and shook her head.

Latifah always knew she was different, but had only recently found out just how different she was.

She un-did her corn-rows, which were starting to grow out. Her hair was tangled as usual, so she combed it out, very gradually. She was a commando, which meant she had little time for fancy hair-styles.

The banshee did it back up into fresh rows, then put her top and jacket back on.

She walked into Knuckles' room to see how he was doing. Still sleeping... She tip-toed up to him and gently kissed his muzzle, waking him.

{Feeling better?}

The echidna nodded, and yawned.

Latifah removed his braces and started working his legs. Then she helped him exercise his abdominal muscles, so he could sit up without support

"Come on, you can do it!" she said.

"Ughhh... I... can't-!"

The echidna gave out, the searing pain where he could still feel was too much.

{That's ok,} Latifah thought, {you did fiine. Now just take a little rest}

She put his shoes back on and laid him back down in a comfortable position.

{No, I can't,} Knuckles thought to her.

The banshee could tell he still had the Master-Emerald on his mind. Evidentely, she was not the only one who knew.

{Don't worry, child}, a familliar presence assured her, {All is being taken care of}.

Somehow, Latifah still felt the need to act. Was it her connection with Knuckles? Whatever it was, she had to act, and she knew it would work if she brought Knuckles along...

{Don't, child, please! I don't want you near that awful place!}

"I'm sorry, but I have to," Latifah said, before strapping Knuckles to her front, to protect him from being shot from behind again. This time, they didn't have the luxery of tek-powers.

But powers or no, they were going to find the Master-Emerald, even if it meant defying Sally.

****************************************************************************************************************************

"You're gonna have a baby?" Tails asked Sally.

She nodded.

"Wow! I'm gonna get a cousin! Can I feel it kick?"

Sally shook her head.

"No, not yet. Babies don't kick until they grow alot bigger"

"Oh. Does that mean you and Sonic are married?"

"Not yet," Sally said, "But we're going to get married. Then you can be the ring-bearer"

Tails giggled, "But I'm a fox, not a bear!"[author's note: got that from 'Mister Rogers']

Now it was Sally's turn to laugh.

"No, silly, you aren't gonna be a bear! You're gonna be a ring-bear-er. That just means you're going to carry the rings to me and Sonic"

Tails thought for a moment.

"Oh, ok" then he went back to playing with the other children.

But he forgot something, and ran back to Sally.

"Um, Aunt Sally, how's Knuckles doing? I hope he get's better, so he can walk again"

Sally hung her head, took Tails' hand and walked him over to her hut.

"Tails," she began, "He's not going to walk again"

"Well, what did Robotnik do? Can't the doctor fix it?"

Sally shook her head.

"No, sweetie, the doctor can't fix it"

"Then what's wrong? What happened? How did Robotnik hurt him?"

The princess sighed. How was she going to explain?

"Look," the young kitsune continued, "I know I'm just a kid, and I'm too little to go on those big missions, but I wanna know what's wrong with Knuckles! I'm a big boy!"

Sally looked at the ground for a moment, and sighed again.

"Ok. I'll tell you," she said, "But I hope you can handle it. I seriously do. Are you sure you want to know?"

Tails nodded.

Sally closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Oh, please, please help me do this right...

"Ok," she said, "This is what happened"

****************************************************************************************************************************

Chuck, Bunnie and Donna made their way through the city, Donna lagging behind because of her weak legs.

"INTRUDER!"

"What? No! We work here!"

"SUBJECT: UNKNOWN HUMANOID. ORDERS ARE TO DESTROY INTRUDERS."

"Uh, oh. Ah think we wore out our welcome," Bunnie said.

"But I can't run!" Donna cried, now very frigntened.

She hobbled in a frantic effort to keep up with the two mobians. They found a chair by one of the pannels, and Chuck had an idea.

"Here, you sit down, and Bunnie and I will push you! We can move alot faster that way!"

Donna sat down in the chair, and the two mobians pushed her, running as fast as they were able. Donna just sat there, scared out of her mind, gripping the sides of the chair, and her make-shift crutch.

Still, the SWATbots were gaining on them.

"Gotta make it to that door," Chuck mumbled through gritted teeth.

Then, a dark shape leaped out of nowhere, along with another, larger one.

"Robotnik?" Bunnie cried.

"Get them to safety!" the mysterious mobian ordered.

'Robotnik' nodded. They made for the exit, while the other mobian held the SWATbots at bay.

"Wait!" Bunnie yelled, "She cain't fight 'em all alone!"

"She can," Robotnik answered, "She has this glowing rock-"

Chuck's eyes widened.

"A chaos emerald?"

****************************************************************************************************************************

"So that's why Knuckles can't walk"

"Oh my gosh! That's terrible, Aunt Sally!"

Then, their conversation was cut short by Sonic.

"Sally! Come quickly! It's Bunnie and Uncle Chuck! They're back! And with friends!"

The squirrel got up and ran to see what 'friends' Sonic was talking about.

Tails decided to follow too, winding his tails up and unwinding them over and over again, allowing him to fly.

There, by the entrance to Knothole, and running frantically, were Bunnie and Chuck, and Robotnik??? There was also a frail young human woman who was being pushed in an office-chair.

"Ok, Butt-nik, what the hell are you doing in Knothole?" Sonic demanded, shocking Tails a little with his use of that bad word.

"Butt-nik?" the man asked, "Who's Butt-nik?"

"He's got amnesia, like I told you, Sonic!" Chuck scolded.

The young hedgehog nodded.

"Sorry, old habits die hard. Besides, he could get his memory back and then-" he snapped his fingers, "We're screwed!"

"Shadow, where am I?" the frail woman asked.

"Who's Shadow?" Sonic asked, "And who are you?"

"Sonic, meet Donna," Chuck said.

"I'm not Donna," the woman mumbled, "I'm Maria Kintobor... I wanna go home..."

"What???" All the Freedom Fighters, including Tails, chorused.

Sonic and Sally looked up and gave the fox a disapproving glance, then returned to the human woman.

"Kintobar?" Sally said, "You mean you're related to Robotnik?"

'Maria' nodded.

"And Latifah?" Sonic added.

"Who's Latifah?" Maria asked.

"Your sister," Sally said, "Don't you know your own sister?"

"You're Highness! Ze human Latifah 27 is missing!"

They turned to see Antoine, running toward them.

"What?" Sally cried.

"I said, 'Ze human is missing! And ze guardian Knuckles!"

The squirrel cursed.

"Ok, find a hut for the humans, and keep Robotnik-"

"Julian," the man they all knew as Robotnik, interrupted.

"Ok, ok, 'Julian', then. Keep him under close watch. If he tries anything funny, shoot him"

***************************************************************************************************************************


	7. ...Your Own Worst Enemy

Warning! another mini-MiSTing, and a special appearance from a Sonic Underground character(ducks from flamers). Also, another character from Sonic Adventure 2 is going to make an appearance in future chapters.

And David Goldsmith, don't worry. Knuckles may get his legs back soon. But right now, he and Latifah will take matters into their own hands, sort of like Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. If you don't know what I mean, go to the Sailor Moon website 'Castle in the Sky'.

And I was going to make Tails eight or nine years old, but I think I'll make him be around six-seven. He's chibi(little) Tails from SatAM and AoSTH(ducks again).

Also, David, if you want to contact me, or if you can't review because of some snafu with fido the virtual dog, please e-mail me at my ff.net website or join the fanfiction.net mailing-list. Anyone else who wants to contact me is welcome to do so. Just don't flame me, or you will be plonked.

****************************************************************************************************************************

Latifah wandered through Robotropolis, edgy because of her inability to detect attackers. She closed her eyes, again switching to Knuckles' night-vision. Much better.

This was going to be difficult, since both of them were crippled. But Latifah was used to that; she only had her powers for a few days. Knuckles, however, had lost his sense of purpose during their stay at Knothole, and had become borderline-suicidal.

{Don't ever, ever think that, Knuckles,} she thought to him, {Don't ever think you're useless. If you died, it would break my heart}

Latifah stroked the echidna's fur with a sweaty hand, and kissed his forehead. The psionic bridge was forming again, their love deepening the mind-link enough so that the bansh-echidna's brain acted as a sensory-beacon. Knuckles was suddenly able to feel his legs, among other things.

Latifah could sense the emerald, and it wasn't just her connection with Knuckles. She was an echidna, a guardian, not a true banshee.

"INTRUDER!"

Latifah turned to see(with Knuckles' eyes) a SWATbot.

Without hesitation, she took out the gun she had stolen before leaving Knothole, and fired on the bot, destroying it. Then, satisfied that the coast was clear, at least for now, the two guardians continued their search for the master emerald.

But there was a problem: the chaos-energy seemed to be coming from all directions, like the song of a cricket.

What???

Then, they realized something. The Master Emerald must have been shattered when the ship exploded.

Both guardians cursed. Now they would have a hell of a time getting that thing back together.

{Please, child, you shouldn't be here!}

That mysterious psychic again. What was she doing in Robotropolis?

{Shut up, Pyjamas! We need to find the Master Emerald, and you aren't helping!}

{Please, child, go back! Let me-}

"NO!!!" Latifah yelled, "I'm a guardian! It's my duty!"

"As it is mine to stop you," came a voice from around a corner.

A figure with a plasma-light stepped into view, blinding the guardians with her light. Latifah opened her eyes and let them adjust.

"Stop me? Ha! Do you even know what we're doing?"

"You're intruding on my property," the other woman simply stated.

"To my knowledge, this isn't really your property, am I right?"

Latifah smirked at the woman, and narrowed her eyes. Both guardians felt a little apprehensive, but they decided to play a poker-face.

"Last time I checked, in fact, it belonged to the natives," Knuckles added, "So, I'm wondering, what the hell are you still doing here?"

"I might ask you the same question," the woman said, stepping a little closer.

"Don't bother us with little details," the echidna said, grinning, "Or we will just have to kill you"

The other woman laughed.

"Oh, yes, I saw her fine display of 'marksmanship' last night! Please, will the little girl demonstrate for me again?".

Both guardians' hearts jumped to their throats. Then, Latifah remembered that she had seen two women during the attack on Robotropolis last night.

Mentally, she cursed, then, with the help of Knuckles, bounced back.

"A temporary set-back, I assure you"

The woman raised a gun at them.

"You're bluffing," she said, and fired.

Latifah dodged the blast, and fired back at the woman.

"Fine," the woman said, "But I'll be back!"

"Not so fast," Latifah said, firing another round of shots at the strange woman, "We're not finished with you yet!"

"Oh, s***!" the woman said to herself, "I think I just bit off more than I could chew!"

{LATIFAH!!!} the psychic-voice called to the female guardian again.

"Not now, Pyjamas!"

{LATIFAH!!! COME HERE NOW!!!}

Latifah fired some more shots at the woman, then turned toward the voice. Both guardians could feel a strong concentration of chaos-energy. Pyjamas had a chaos emerald?

"What??"

A figure jumped out of the shadows, and took several pieces of glowing green rocks out of her pants-pocket.

"Pyjamas, what the hell are you doing here?" the bansh-echidna demanded.

"Giving you two this," the mobian answered, "Now open your duffel bag"

Latifah complied, and the psychic started taking more pieces out and dropping them into the bag.

"It's not all of them, but the rest can't be too far. I wish you would've listened to me"

The banshee-guardian glared at her.

"Don't patronize me, Pyjamas," she said, "You're not my mother!"

"Just listen to me for a change so we can re-assemble the master emerald!" the psychic snapped.

****************************************************************************************************************************

"Master emerald, huh?" Carley mumbled to herself, as she watched the mobians and the weird woman, "Well, I'm never one to pass up on a good precious stone..."

She smiled, and looked around.

"All I need is a good disguise... Hmmm..."

She passed by a roboticized bat... Perfect...

"Bye-bye Carley, Hello..." the woman thought for a moment, then smiled again.

"Ah, that's it..." She sneaked back to her ship, where Snively was sure to wake up soon.

He'll never recognize me in this disguise...

****************************************************************************************************************************

"You stay here," Sonic said, "I don't want the baby to get hurt.

Sally nodded.

"Sonic," she said, "Take Tails with you"

"But-" the fox began.

"Tails," the squirrel began, "I have something to tell you"

"Yeah?"

"I've been overprotecting you, and I think you've known that for a long time"

Tails nodded.

"Well," Sally continued, "I-I just... I'm finding it hard to let go. You're still a baby to me, and I'm afraid you'll grow up too soon, like me and Sonic"

The kitsune just stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

"You're a big boy now, so go ahead with Sonic, and make me proud"

"I will, Aunt Sally," Tails said, hugging the princess.

"Be good, Tails, stay out of trouble," she called, as Sonic and the fox left for Robotropolis.

Hands on the window-pane

Watching some children laugh and play

They're running in circles

With candy canes and French braids...

Sally watched the children at play from where she stood, and patted her tummy again. She really wasn't much older than some of them; maybe ten years or so. And Tails was almost half her age. Why was I so reluctant to tell him about Knuckles' condition? The squirrel thought to herself.

Selfish. She was selfish, in coddling Tails. And now, he was going to be involved in some very serious business, most which would mean a difference between life and death.

Sally didn't want to lose him; that was her greatest fear, even more than him losing his innocence. I'm just being a mother... She decided.

Inspired to question

What makes us grown-ups anyway?

Let's search for the moment

When youth betrayed itself to age...

She looked up at the children, still carefree, unaware for the most part of what the adults(most of them still technically children themselves) were involved in.

Then, the young princess was overcome with the urge to join them, something she could not fully explain.

At first, she hesitated, still in command-mode, then chided herself.

So many times she had sacrificed her wants, and perhaps even her needs, so Mobius would prevail. Now, for once, she could throw off those chains.

Seeing that she wouldn't be able to join in missions for some time, what with her condition, the squirrel ran to join the children in a game of catch.

So let the children play

Inside your heart always

And death you will defy

'Cause your youth will never die...[from 'Never Die' by Creed]

****************************************************************************************************************************

Snively woke up with a giant headache, and found himself tied up. Just like old times, he thought.

He sniffed the air.

"Phew, what's that smell?" he wondered.

The midgit looked around the cage he was in for something he could cut the rope on. Nothing.

He sighed, and lay back down, only to hear a sickening *splutch*.

Snively gagged at the vile odor. He looked at the spot where he lay down, and immedietly knew who left that 'gift'.

"A certain hedgehog is gonna pay for this!" he seethed.

****************************************************************************************************************************

"Red! Latifah!" Sonic's voice echoed through the corridors of Robotropolis.

{You better hide, Pyjamas,} Latifah thought, {I don't want you getting involved in our business}

Pyjamas opened her mouth to say something, but the bansh-echidna interrupted her.

{Just go! I don't want you to get into trouble}

{Yeah,} Knuckles added, {It's between us and Sonic. You don't need to to be involved}

The mobian sighed.

"Ok," she whispered, before slinking off into the shadows again.

"Red! Latifah! Where are you?" Sonic's voice was getting closer.

"What do you want?" Latifah demanded, though she already knew what-or to be more precisely, who-he was after.

The hedgehog stepped into view, and glared at the bansh-echidna. The kitsune, Tails, she knew, wore the same expression.

"Red," Sonic answered, "Bring him back to Knothole!"

"No," Knuckles said, "I'm staying with her"

"But you need medical-care-"

"And Latifah can care for me herself. I'm not going back!"

As if to emphasize that, the echidna, still under the influence of the psionic-bridge, un-strapped himself and had Latifah lower him to the ground. His legs gave out at first, since they had little muscle-tone, but he picked himself back up and walked toward Sonic and Tails.

"But Knuckles," Tails piped-up, "Sally told me half of your spine was missing and you wouldn't-"

"-Be able to walk again?" Knuckles finished, "Oh, you have alot to learn. Sally has held us back, and if she had it her way, innocent lives would be at stake. We will find the master emerald our way, and neither you, nor Sally can stop us!"

"But what about your seizures?" Sonic asked

"I'll take my chance. Besides, Latifah has some medical-equipment that she stole from a camp in her home-region. It should be enough to last us until we can find the master emerald"

"But Red-"

"Please, don't make this any harder," Knuckles said, "I am still your friend, Sonic, I think you know that; but right now, you and Sally are your own worst enemies!"

Suddenly, he felt the familliar numbness start to creep up his legs, and had to concentrate to stand. Sonic, sensing that, caught him as the last remnants of the psy-bridge wore off.

"Thank you, Sonic," Knuckles said, as the hedgehog brought him down to a sitting-position.

"But what will I tell Sally?" Sonic asked.

He was answered by a blow to the head.

"Nothing," Knuckles answered.

Tails looked at them in disbelief. Why did he hurt Sonic?

"You're supposed to be the good guys!" he cried.

"We are the good guys, Tails," Knuckles said, "But we are doing this for the sake of all the Freedom Fighters, including you and Sonic! Tell Sally what happened. Tell her if anyone interferes, we wiill take any action necessary"

Latifah nodded.

"This is not a threat," she said, "Now go! We have business to attend to, and someone we need to discuss things with"

Tails glared at them, then picked up the unconscious Sonic and flew off.

When he was gone, Latifah picked Knuckles back up and looked around for Pyjamas, but she was nowhere to be seen. Strange...

They expected her to be close by, but she just vanished, without a trace... or did she?

The guardians found another piece of the master emerald in one of the dark corridors, and Latifah took it and put it in her bag with the others. They wouldn't be able to find the rest of the emerald without the help of Pyjamas, and the pieces were worthless by themselves. Maybe that emerald that Pyjamas had could detect the pieces of the master emerald, or maybe she had some kind of device that could detect chaos-energy.

{Come on, Knuckles, let's look for Ol' Crazy, then fnd some shelter for the night}

{Where?}

{I don't know. We'll just have to look. Maybe we can use the old shelter-}

{No,} Knuckles interrupted, {That'll be the first place they'll look. We'll have to find some other place}

****************************************************************************************************************************

"Oh, I wish I could just reveal myself to her," Pyjamas said.

"No, It's not time. Believe me, I know how you feel"

Pyjamas turned at the sound of the sweet voice. This mysterious stranger had been in contact with her for some time, but had never revealed her identity.

"Do you?"

The stranger stepped into the clearing, and put a mauve hand on the woman's shoulder. Though she wore a cloak that covered most of her face, the gold glint of a crown was barely visible..

"Yes, I do"

to be continued...

****************************************************************************************************************************

Oh, and by the way, If you read Orin's 'Through The Darkness... To The Light', try listening to 'Freestate' by Depeche Mode when you get to the yaoi part. It really gives it a neat effect.

Orin, you did a cool yaoi fic! It could probably get by with a lower rating, like R, because I've listened to songs by Salt 'N' Peppa that were more explicit. But I can see why you did that, because I'm working on a Batman fic that addresses rape and sodomy from the victim's perspective, and I don't want to get some kid's parents mad. So I gave it an NC-17 rating, even though the descriptions of sex are brief, and there are no swears or crude sexual words.


	8. In The Dark, As Usual...

Omigosh! Orin, thank you for reviewing my story! Danke shoen!(german for 'thank you very much'). And I didn't plan on making my story better than anyone's, except my own. Writing it get's harder and harder with every chapter because I'm constantly trying to out-do myself. It's sort of what one of my favorite new rappers, Missy Elliott, does. When her first cd came out, she was just "building a fan-base", but with her second release, she worked hard at making it different, at keeping the listeners' attention. When I get a job(I just got my license, and the photo ain't half-bad), I'm gonna get her third cd(don't have a steady income yet, but just wait.

******************************************

Carley floated around in a tank. She was naked, except for the maze of tubing designed to feed her and provide her with intravenous oxygen.

She loved water. Loved to be immersed in the wonderful liquid. It was heaven, to be totally surrounded by it, to not even have to breath. Like being in the womb again. A pity she couldn't stay like that forever...

Wings had begun sprouting out from her back, and her ears were growing, as well as her canine-teeth. She had begun looking less and less human, and more like a mobian bat.

The woman looked up at the negligable amount of air at the top. That air would be all she had if the oxygen-feed malfunctioned. The thought of being so close to drowning exited her.

But not near as much as the prospect of finding that rare 'Master Emerald'. Master Emerald... It sounded like it would either give her imense power, or make her rich from selling it to the black-market, where she was well known.

The black-market... She had her hands in all the illegal activities, in all the places of the most unsavory repute. Drugs, clone-slaves, genetic manipulation, and brothels.

Carley smiled at the thought. She had met Donna at an orgy, and even though it was supposed to be anonymous, they found each other, in an inevitable bust.

She had carried Donna out, barely evading the police, and the military, which usually didn't get involved with small matters like illegal orgies. The blonde girl was confused, disoriented, apparently looking for someone named 'Shadow'.

"There, there, it's ok, everything's gonna be alright"

"Shadow... Grampa..." the frightened girl whispered.

She had obviously not gone to the orgy for the sex. However, it was she who was having sex with Carley, before the bust. And she was loyal. She would only sleep with men after getting Carley's permission, and even then, only on occasion.

Snively was one such man, and the only reason either of them would sleep with him was to gain his trust.

Carley didn't much care for sleeping with men. Donna was a different story; but she claimed to have felt the safest in Carley's arms.

Safe...

No one was ever 'safe' when involved with her. Not Snively, not even Donna.

She would not let people get in her way, not even her 'friends'. And besides, Donna was getting a little too friendly with the natives for her own good.

"Transformation 65% complete," a robot stated.

Excellent, Carley thought, Soon Mobius will be mine, as well as the chaos emeralds.

*****************************

Knuckles watched as Latifah bathed in the water. They had spent the night in this strange place that looked like the remnants of an ancient civilization. Much of it had sank underwater, and was overgrown with shrubbery.

The fruit that grew there was edible, and was eaten in lieu of the tasteless rations. There were also fish, some of which Knuckles had speared with a stick that he sharpened with his knuclaws.

Knuckles looked down at his bare feet that dangled lifelessly in the water. He could feel the chill in his stomach, but his feet felt nothing. His legs were like rubber, just hanging there, useless... but they were just legs.

He was a guardian, and he had to remain objective. It would still be possible for him to guard the Floating Island; he and Latifah could guard it together, or Rotor could invent some crazy gadget that would help him. Either way, he was not going to let his paralysis get in the way of his duty.

The echidna thought about Sonic, who had caught him as he fell, who after that, he had knocked out.

Sonic... please don't hate me...

Knuckles replayed the events in his head. Sonic was like a brother to him, even though the two would often get into fights over the dumbest things. They were rivals, yet they were also best friends.

Sonic... was his soul-mate...

He was closer to the hedgehog than he was to Latifah, and would risk his life to protect his friend.

"Knuckles"

Latifah's voice snapped him out of his reviere.

"Day-dreaming?"

"I'm not the only one," the echidna said, "If you want, I can include you"

The bansh-echidna smiled and passionately kissed him, forming the psy-bridge. Both guardians felt the sudden chill of the ice assailing Knuckles' awakened receptors, before it faded to a dull warmth.

The echidna hesitated at first, then pushed himself off into the water feet first, all the way to the bottom. Latifah wasn't worried, since they were psionically linked and she knew what Knuckles was doing.

Sure enough, he bounced off of the roof of a submerged building and surfaced, shaking the water from his dreds and onto his lover.

The banshee-guardian laughed and splashed him back.

Knuckles shook off the water and grinned at her mischiviously.

"Ooh, I'm gonna get you for that!"

The splash-fight continued for awhile, relieving some of the stress that had accumulated since Latifah's arrival at Knothole.

Both were so much alike; lonely most of their lives, but then they found each other.

And she knew that Sonic was his soul-mate, and wished she could experience something like that. All her life she had only aquaintances, certain people who would feel enough pity to not treat her like dirt, but they never attempted to really be friends, let alone soul-mates.

{Someday, that will change,} Knuckles thought to her, {You will find your soul-mate. Trust me}

The two guardians stopped their play and climbed out of the pond.

{Something isn't right,} Latifah thought.

{What do you mean?}

{I just have a bad feeling that we're the ones interfering, and we could be the ones endangering people.}

She sighed.

{But we have to get the Master Emerald... it's just that... maybe Pyjamas was right to tell us to stay out of it, but I-we just can't, can we?}

{We were hatched for one purpose,} the echidna answered, {and that was to guard the Floating Island. Besides, we don't know Pyjamas' intentions, so we mustn't be so quick to trust her}

"I hope you're right, Knuckles," Latifah said, aloud this time.

"Well, we'd better get back to the shelter and plan our next move. We're gonna find out what she's up to, one way or another. And we will find the Master Emerald, no matter what it takes"

Both got up and walked back to the tree that they had slept in, unaware of the two women who were watching them from a distance.

**********************************************

"It just kills me to know what she's gone through, and that I can't tell her why she mustn't get involved. I know I should have listened to you and Ebony-"

"I understand," the cloaked stranger said, "There's no need to justify your actions with me. She could have well been killed if you hadn't done that-

"But-"

"She is safe, and that's all that matters. Now I have other business to attend to"

And with that, the cloaked stranger took out a remote and pushed a few buttons. A vortex opened, and she walked through.

Who are you? Pyjamas thought, as the vortex closed again, leaving her alone once more.

**********************************************

Sally shook her head.

"So, what do you suggest we do?"

"I don't know," the squirrel answered, "They don't want us to interfere, but I still worry about them. I probably should worry more about a certain baby. By the way, Sonic, can you please take that chilli-dog outside? It's makin' me sick"

The hedgehog nodded, then downed the chilli-dog in one gulp, and instantly regretted it. It was a shame to waste such good food, not to mention that it was excruciatingly painful and took a long time to reach his stomach when eaten that way.

Sally laughed and rolled her eyes. Typical Sonic.

"Uh, that's not what I meant, but thanks"

Sonic nodded, his face now contorted in a sort of a grimace, and his eyes bugged out.

"Y-you're welcome, S-sal"

He grunted in pain, and his body lurched in several unnatural positions as he willed the chilli-dog to get down into his stomach.

"Sonic..." Sally said between guffaws, "Next time... chew... your food... You're gonna... kill yourself... someday..."

"Urghhh... Th-thanks for... the advice... Sal..." Sonic grunted.

He held onto his neck and chest, and bore down, then finally, the chilli-dog left his esophagus and dropped into his stomach. The hedgehog sighed in relief as the pain went away, and felt somewhat dizzy. Of course, he knew he wasn't out of the woods yet. If a chilli-dog goes in, it's gotta come out.

"Sal," he said, "Remind me not to do that again"

The squirrel laughed and nodded, then kissed her humilliated fiance.

"Boy, do I have my work cut out for me," she said, "And by the way, I'm feeling a little hungry. Can you get some ice cream and pickles?"

Sonic looked at her weird. Oh, no, he thought, she's gettin' those cravings now... oh, boy, this is gonna be fun...

************************************************

"Knuckles hit Sonic?" Amy cried in disbelief.

"Yeah," Tails said, "And he said he did it for the sake of all of us"

"Sake?" the hedgehog asked, "What's that?"

"I don't know," the kitsune replied, "Probably some grown-up word that means we're not supposed to know something"

Amy thought for a moment.

"Well, he was being mean to Sonic, so he must be one of the bad guys. We gotta stop him before he and Latifah take over Knothole"

"FREEDOM FIGHTERS!!!" the two children shouted, before dropping their toys and heading for the Great Forest.

*************************************************

Jarad watched the children from the brush he was hiding in.

Interesting... they know Latifah... he thought, maybe this is my big opportunity to find her...

"What the hell are you doing here, Jarad?"

He turned to see the mobian psychic he had been pursuing.

"Latifah, they are looking for you," he said, "As am I. Looks like I found you. You're in a lot of trouble, little girl"

"So? What are you going to do about it? Especially so close to a native settlement? I won't be the only one in trouble"

Jarad glared at her.

"Don't play games with me, Latifah, you stole our powers, and you will pay for that!"

The mobian gave him a look that could disintegrate stone.

"You may have me if you want," she said, "But if you take me, I hope the island falls on your family, what little family you have, and kills every one of them"

What??? Jarad thought, What was this lunatic talking about? A falling island? Perhaps that was why her mother had such little use for her.

He took out a collar and chain, and his emerald. If she wanted him to catch her...

His thoughts were interrupted by a blast from the woman's emerald.

"Idiot!" the woman snapped, "I said, 'you may have me if you want'! I did not say that I would give myself up to you. I have absolutely no intention of giving myself up, least of all, to one of her lackies!"

"How do you kn-" asked a very sore Jarad, realizing by the way the mobian stressed the word 'her', that she knew who he was working for.

"I had a feeling," the old psychic answered, "And you just confirmed it. Thank you, Jarad. Now get out of here, before I forget myself and just kill you!"

And with that, the woman sent him flying.

************************************************

Maria woke up in a make-shift bed, and saw a mobian looking down at her.

"Wha-?"

She abruptly sat up, startling the mobian pig.

"Whoa, easy!"

"Where am I?" the woman asked.

"You're in the Knothole hospital. Now take it easy. I'm not finished examining you. You look like you have a muscular-disorder, but I need to conduct a few more tests. Just lay back down. I'll be done in a sec"

Maria sat back, still disoriented. What happened? Where's Shadow?

"Shadow..." she mumbled.

"Who's shadow?" the doctor asked, "Some pet from back home?"

She restlessly looked around the room she was in, unable to focus well.

"No..."

"Well, you should go back to sleep, Maria-"

"NO! Where's Shadow???" the woman cried, sitting up again, "I need to know where he is! I don't know if they found him or not!"

Then she broke down crying.

"What? Who are they?"

"They tried to kill him... "

She started crying again.

The doctor sat down next to the hysterical woman and tried to comfort her.

Then, the door to the hut opened, and an old hedgehog with a strange device on his left wrist walked in.

"Shadow!" Maria cried, getting up from her bed.

She tried to run, but her legs gave out and she fell. The doctor helped her up and got her back onto the bed.

The hedgehog chuckled.

"The name's Charles Hedgehog, but you can call me Chuck. All my friends do"

He walked over to the bed and held the woman's hand, calming her.

"Now who's this shadow?"

*****************************************

"They didn't see us!" Amy giggled.

"Cool," Tails said, "Now c'mon, let's go!"

The two children wandered through the forest, a little scared, but determined to prove they could pull off anything that a grown-up can.

"Wow. We're really doing this all by ourselves," Amy said.

"Yeah, the kitsune answered, "Aunt Sally and Uncle Sonic are gonna be so proud of us"

"Children! You mustn't be here!"

Both of the childrens' hair stood on end.

Tails' ears perked up at the familiar voice.

"Pyjamas?"

"You must go back!"

The old psychic stepped into view.

"We're trying to help Sonic and Sally!" Amy explained, "We're gonna stop that mean lady Latifah and Knuckles. They hurt Sonic"

"Don't do this," Pyjamas warned.

"We're trying to help!"

{Yes, children, help Aunt Sally,} a gentle, almost menacing female voice said.

"STAY OUT OF THIS!!!" the psychic yelled out to the voice, "DO NOT HARM THEM!!!"

{I have no interest in little children. I want Latifah. Bring her to me now, whoever you are}

"NEVER!!! Latifah is under my protection!"

"What? You're protecting Latifah?" Tails cried, "So that's why you told us to go back! No way!"

He picked Amy up and flew off, leaving Pyjamas alone with the voice.

"Stay out of my mind!" the anthropomorph demanded, clutching her chaos emerald and trying to fend off the voice's influence.

*******************************************

Meanwhile, in a room dimly-lit by a candle, a cat tended to an old furry-woman, who was in bed with a raging fever. She had tried all the fever-remedies and spells she knew, but none of them worked now.

The sick mobian stirred, her sweat-soaked hair clinging to her face.

"Ebony..." the elderly woman managed.

"Please, lay still," the black cat said, her worried voice betraying her attempts to remain calm.

She gently pushed back the hair from her friend's face, and lay a compress on the woman's burning forehead.

"Ebony..." the mobian said again, "You are needed... "

"Please, don't talk. You'll only wear yourself out. You need to-"

"I will be cared for... while you're gone..." the woman said, pointing to the doorway.

The cat looked to where her friend was pointing, and saw a cloaked figure in the doorway. The light from the candle reflected off something metal under the figure's hood, and she recognized who it was immediately.

The figure nodded.

"Yes, I will tend to her. Now go. The bansh-echidnas need you"

Ebony closed her eyes for a moment, then nodded. She knew this was coming for years, ever since the takeover. The bansh-echidnas were almost of age, but something even more serious was going on, something she heard her friend mumbling about while she was asleep.

'Orin... is weakening... her sister... holds chaos...'

Whatever was going on, it was not good, and with Orin's sister involved, things just went from bad to worse.

********************************************

Author's note: i edited that scene where sonic and sally do 'it'. 

By the way, Latifah has a neurological disorder that makes it hard for her to think under pressure. It causes a bottle-neck in her brain, and situations like combat become overwhelming for her, especially when things don't go as planned. But when she is linked with Knuckles, their mental-capacity doubles, with Knuckles doing most of the processing. I read something about this weird disorder in a magazine, some kind of autism.

Also, I'm sick of people going on and on about why Mary Sue must die, because most people in classic fiction are Mary Sue's. For example: Cinderella, Snow-White, and several others. People like to read about triumphing over adversity, and I am no exception. That's why I like Harry Potter. Many people can identify with these characters, because they are virtually un-touched emotionally by the abuse, and they put our problems in perspective.


	9. Orders, Orders...

Warning: mood-swings from Sally, and weird behavior from Maria. Also, like previous chapters, it gets mushy. You have been warned!

Knuckles: Yeah, don't read this s***! She still hasn't given me my legs back! By the way, why are you so mad? You found that song you were lookin' for!

Latifah27: I know! I love 'Shorty Swing My Way'! I'm just pissed that my sound-card is butchering the music on my Lemmings games. And when I try playing my Macy Gray CD in Dos-mode, the computer screams at me, or at least it did a few months ago-

Knuckles: I would scream if you made me listen to Macy Gray!

Sonic: Oh, shut-up so we can get on with the story!

Knuckles(rolls his eyes): Alright... (leaves room)

*************************************************

Sally was worried. Tails and Amy had disappeared, and no one had any idea what happened.

"TAILS!!!! COME HERE THIS INSTANT!!!!"

No answer.

This is the last straw, the princess thought, no story for him-that is, if he was still alive. Still alive... The thought made Sally's blood turn to ice. What if something happened to him?

"TAILS!!! AMY!!! WHERE ARE YOU???"

The squirrel heard a grunt coming from Sonic's hut, and shook her head.

"I told him to chew his food," she muttered.

"SONIC!!!" Sally yelled, "GET YOUR A** OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!!!"

"Ughh... I can't, Sal... I'm a little... busy... right now..." Sonic answered between grunts, obviously trying to expell the chilli-dog he had eaten a few hours earlier..

"D***IT SONIC!!!!! TAILS AND AMY ARE LOST!!!!!!"

The hedgehog ran out of his hut, after taking care of his 'business'.

"What? What happened? How could they be lost? They were playing by Antoine's hut last time I checked-"

"Yeah, and they took off while you were takin' a s***! D***it, Sonic, why can't you watch them more closely?" Sally snapped.

"Look, Sal, you know I can't watch them all day! I have to worry about that human who's runnin' Robotropolis now, not to mention getting ready for our wedding!"

"Well maybe I should just call the wedding off!"

Those words shocked Sonic.

"What? Are you calling off the wedding, after you were the one who started this in the first place???"

"Well, maybe you should have stopped me!"

"Well, I didn't see you try to stop!"

"Both of you, faight somewhere else so Ah can sleep!" Bunnie called from her hut.

Sally sighed again.

"I'm sorry. I'm just-you know..."

"I understand," Sonic said, "I'll find the kids. I'm sorry I didn't-"

"That's ok," Sally answered, "I need an asprin. I'm gettin' a headache the size of Robotnik-er-Julian"

Sonic laughed.

"Must be a pretty big headache. But what about the baby? Won't the asprin hurt it?"

"No, silly! The doctor told me asprin would be just fine! But we'll have to settle for sparkling cider tonight," Sally said, as she walked back to her hut.

"We?"

Sally turned and glared at him.

"Alright! No white wine for me either... heh heh..."

"That's better," the squirrel said, "We have to suffer together, you know"

Sonic gave her a lop-sided grin, and nodded.

"Uh, yeah... of course"

Better not open my mouth unless I'm eating...

****************************************************

Tails and Amy walked toward Robotropolis, and looked around for Knuckles and Latifah. No sign of them.

"That's funny," the fox said, "They were here last time"

"Maybe they're hiding," Amy replied, "What if they catch us and roboticize us?"

"We'll just hide from them"

Tails paused for a moment. Something told him he shouldn't be doing this, but he didn't have much choice now. He and Amy would just have to play it out.

He took Amy's hands and flew through the dead city, both children scanning for the two guardians. Their search still fruitless, they decided to split up.

"You search the buildings on this side, while I search these buildings," Tails said, pointing to the ones on his side, "Meet me back here in two hours, so we can sneek back to Knothole"

Amy nodded, a little scared, but she wanted to get Knuckles and Latifah.

Of course, neither of them thought how they would go about catching the guardians once they had found them...

****************************************************

"You must have a foot-fetish," Knuckles teased.

Latifah smiled, and kissed the echidna's foot again.

Not that he could feel it, since their link wasn't strong enough at that point. The psionic-bridge didn't last very long, and it took awhile for them to initiate it again.

That didn't stop the bansh-echidna from kissing and massaging Knuckles' feet. And it amused him, to watch her do that.

"You know we don't have much time for this," the echidna said, "We must find the remaining pieces of the Master Emerald, so Floating Island doesn't sink"

"Yeah, and we also need to keep the blood flowing in your legs. By the way, how can Floating Island still be airborn? It should have fallen by now"

"Well, it would either make a giant tidal-wave, or a ground-quake, and so far, neither has happened. Somehow, the island is still in the air. How it is staying up there is beyond me"

"Probably because someone has it under control; but then again, whoever is holding the island up isn't going to necessarily be doing this for our benefit. You may be right. Looks like we need to pay Pyjamas a little visit"

"Exactly," Knuckles said, "Which is why we need to find the rest of the fragments. We must re-assemble the Master Emerald and see what this Pyjamas is really up-"

The echidna suddenly went blank, and slumped to the ground, lapsing into another seizure.

Gotta get him breathing again, Latifah thought, as she performed CPR.

This wasn't from his spinal-fluid build-up, since the excess fluid had already been drained. It could have been his epilepsy, but they had enough medication to at least keep the seizures from getting that bad.

Finally, Knuckles regained consciousness, and coughed a little.

"Thanks," he said.

"Are you feeling ok?" Latifah asked.

The echidna nodded, and gave her a silly grin.

"Just a little dizzy... And I can't feel my legs"

Latifah laughed in spite of herself. She knew that joke was coming.

"Ha ha. Well, you'd better get some rest," she said, "Something's not right, and I can't have you getting sick while we're casing Robotropolis"

"No. You either take me with you, or stay here and tend to the poor sick cripple while Floating Island goes to hell in a hand-basket!"

"You are in no position to force me to take you," Latifah said.

{And just what will you do when you get there? You can't handle intense situations without me}

The bansh-echidna sighed and nodded.

{You're right. I'm just worried about you, that's all. I'll take you, but if you start getting sick again, we leave Robotropolis immedietely}

Knuckles nodded.

Latifah held the echidna and stroked his dreads, while looking into his determined eyes.

{I don't want to lose you,} she thought.

{Don't worry, you won't}

The bansh-echidna closed her eyes for a moment, as she remembered something that she had aquired from invading Robotnik's mind.

"That's it!" she said, "Carley and Donna! Maybe they know something about the emerald! And maybe I can 'persuade' Snively to help us..."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Knuckles asked.

*****************************************

Ebony saw the banshee and an echidna, who she knew were both guardians, start of towards Robotropolis.

The cat sighed. If only the undercover agent had listened to her and Pyjamas. And now Pyjamas was sick, probably dying, and Ebony could not be with her in her time of need.

That, and the crisis with Floating Island was almost more than she could take, but she had to do this, or Sonic's family-line would end with him, the triplets would never be born, and Mobius would be doomed.

That was frustrating enough, without three people who, without fail, refused to obey instructions. Orin's refusal to obey had caused this in the first place, and had also been the cause of Pyjamas' sickness. And Latifah and Knuckles had refused to obey the agent disguised as Pyjamas, complicating the matter with the other bansh-echidnas.

Ebony broke off all communications with the banshee scientist after Pyjamas had fallen ill. The last thing she wanted to do was help her, but if her sister were to take control, the power-hungry banshee would become even more dangerous than Robotnik.

Also, Zachary, the keeper of the eggs, was missing. Pyjamas had sensed that something wasn't right about him, and would never be alone in a room with the gray echidna if she could avoid it.

And she had very little to say to him. One of the few times she even talked to the echidna scientist was when Ebony and Aleena were leaving the room.

"I know you're up to no good. I can tell it in my sleep. You're going to ally with the dark side, and you will live just long enough to regret it"

"And what do you want?" the echidna asked.

"I want to live long enough to see you pay for what you're about to do. I would smile at you and wave, like this"

And she waved at him, and left the room as well.[author's note: got that from Babylon 5, where Vir tells Mr. Morden that he wants to live long enough to see the man beheaded. He would look up into Morden's lifeless eyes and wave]

"And how do you know you will live that long?" the echidna asked, to which Pyjamas answered with a particularly vulgar curse she rarely, if ever, used.

Now, Ebony would have to keep Jarad at bay, and try to rescue the agent, who had been living under the guise of a mobian for the past few years, from the dangerous opportunist.

One thing for sure, it wasn't going to be easy...

*********************************************

Meanwhile, Amy walked through the corridors of a building, which was filled with strange equipment, and had walls that were covered with dials and switches, and view-screens.

No Latifah, though. How was she going to find them? And more importantly, how was she going to find her way back to the meeting-place? She was lost, and getting very frightened.

A sound startled the pink hedgehog.

"Who-who's there?" she stammered.

"Hello? Can you help me?" a voice called.

"Are you hurt?"

"No, but I'm lost. Someone tried to roboticize me"

Roboticize? Amy thought, ...Latifah!

"Don't worry, I'll help you," Amy said, walking over to where the voice came from.

She saw a bat in a skin-tight dress, huddled under a console.

"Was it Latifah?"

The bat thought for a moment.

"Yes, it was her. She tried to roboticize me, and she wants this 'Master Emerald'"

"Don't worry, me and Tails will take you to Knothole. You'll be safe there. By the way, my name's Amy. What's yours?"

"Rouge," the bat answered.

She got up and followed Amy out of the building. 

********************************

"What's the matter, Latifah, having a little headache?" Jarad taunted.

"Shut up," Pyjamas said, struggling to maintain control of her thoughts, "Shut up, Jarad... you are a... fool... stay away... from me..."

"Don't try that with me, my dear, it won't work. You're faking it. You just don't like me, do you?"

"Please..." the mobian begged, "Leave me in peace... stop talking to me..."

Then she started screaming, and leaving herself wide open for Jarad to capture her.

He grabbed the hysterical mobian, and put the collar he was carrying around her neck.

"Now to take off your mask..."

Jarad yanked at the mobian's bangs, but they would not come off. He saw that she only had one eye. Her left eye was only an empty socket, but her good eye... no... it couldn't be...

*******************************

Restless, Sally decided to go looking for the two children. She wasn't feeling like herself, and couldn't sleep knowing that they could be headed for trouble.

The squirrel tip-toed out of her hut, and toward the outskirts of Knothole...

"Where do you think you're goin, Sally-girl?" a voice asked.

Sally looked to see Bunnie smiling at her.

"Well, Ah thought you'd be up to somethin' lahk thait. You jus' go get your little squirrel-butt back to your hut, before ya force me to break it!"

The princess smiled.

"And just what makes you think I'm going to do-whatever you're thinking I'm gonna do?"

"Ah got mah ways. Besahds, Ah know ya too well. Now c'mon! Back to your hut-or bettah yet, Sally-girl, mahn!"

Sally sighed. The doctor is always the worst patient, she thought.

*******************************

Latifah walked through Robotropolis, this time, more familliar with it, as if she had resided in that dark city for years. She looked down at the echidna who was sleeping in her arms, and smiled. She absentmindedly stroked his fur, and for a moment, had this dark thought of roboticizing him.

No! The bansh-echidna told herself. He trusts me, and he's my friend!

The guardian stirred in his sleep.

I could never hurt him, Latifah thought, Come on, mind, stop thinking those horrible things.

{Just because you think them, doesn't make you evil}

"Knuckles! You awake?" the bansh-echidna whispered.

{Half there. I know what's going through your head. It's that part of Robotnik that you absorbed. Just ignore it. Know that it is not you; it's Robotnik. You would never do that}

"But I can't control my thoughts. It's happened to me before, and when I told people about it, and kept asking and asking over and over again, they started punishing me. After that, I learned to ignore them, or at least not tell anyone they existed, but they come back. Every few months they come back. I can't stop them forever"

Knuckles yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Don't worry, Latifah," he said, "I trust you. I know you wouldn't do anything like that. Besides, aren't we supposed to pay Carley and Donna a little visit?"

************************************

Back at Knothole, Chuck and Dr. Porker Lewis were still trying to find out who Shadow was, but with no luck. And the girl's behavior was becoming erratic.

"Don't point that at me! Leave me alone!"

"Please," the doctor said, "I'm only trying to administer a medication-"

"NO! Get away! Please! Don't shoot me!"

"I'm not going to shoot you. Good Aurora, what do you think I am?"

"Here, I think I can handle it," Chuck said, as he walked up to the frightened young woman.

She kicked him, knocking off the device that he was wearing on his wrist.

"Oh, shoot!" he said, "My nanite-filter! Hope she didn't ruin it, or I could re-roboticize in a matter of days!"

The hedgehog checked the filter, fiddled with it a little, then put it back on.

"Looks ok," he said, before returning to the still disturbed Maria.

She was crawling toward the door, obviously taking the oportunity to make an escape.

"Hold it," Chuck said, "We're not tryin' to hurt ya!"

"You're not shadow! What did you do to him? Why do you look like him?"

Maria climbed down the the ladder and out of the hut, and ran, not really aiming for anything. Of course, she didn't get very far before stumbling and falling again.

Getting up, she again started running, but was caught by the two Mobians, and fell.

"Don't hurt me!" she cried, waking some sleeping mobians.

"For the last time," Porker said, "We are not trying to hurt you! We're trying to find out who hurt Shadow!"

"I don't know!" Maria sobbed, sounding even more out of it.

"Shadow's my-friend," Chuck lied, "I want to know what happened to him, and see if he's ok. Ya gotta trust me! Do ya wanna find him?"

The girl nodded.

"Good. Then let's getcha back inside, and I'll fix ya something. Ya like chilli-dogs?"

Maria just gave him a blank stare.

**********************************

Latifah and Knuckles scanned Robotropolis from the control-room. No Carley or Donna, though someone had used Robotnik's equipment for some kind of experiment. Odd...

{Take a look at this,} Knuckles thought to her.

She looked at what had caught the echidna's eye, the comm-logs.

"Hmm... this should tell us something..." she said.

Both guardians smiled as they re-played the last message. Bingo!

They would have a nice little chat with Snively and his girlfriends...

***********************************

Don't worry; there's gonna be more. I just had so much stuff in my head, that I had to write all of it down. I just don't want to make my chapters too big.


	10. Playing Dirty

******************************************

Julian walked into Maria's room, and watched her sleep. She looked so familiar to him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He walked up to her bed, and took a closer look at her. She was beautiful, and he wanted to kiss her, but something stopped him. As he gazed at her porcelain face, Julian had a flash:

"Julian, aren't you gonna come to ARK with me?"

"Nah, Maria, I'm gonna stay here. I don't wanna live on some old space-station. Not my style"

Maria hung her head.

"Grampa and I are gonna miss you"

"Well, I don't trust his experiments. He wants to play around with DNA, to basically play God. I just don't wanna be around when the millitary storms the place!"

"Aw, Julian, did you have to bring that up? People are already jumpy! They don't need to know about this! What they don't know won't hurt them!"

"Maria, you should stay down here. The doctor said the fresh air would do you good-"

Maria glared at him. This wasn't the first time her health had been brought up.

"Listen, Julian, I'm just fine, and I will be just fine! He also said that my condition cannot be cured, and my grampa's trying to cure it. If that means 'playing God', then so be it!"

With that, she turned and hobbled away on her crutch, and didn't look back.

**************************************************

But what were they doing on this planet now? Julian wondered. What had happened?

The girls stirred, and opened her eyes.

"Wha-Julian? What are you doing here?"

"Maria... I-I don't know..." the man stammered.

"Well, you sure put on some weight," Maria laughed.

"Come on," Julian said, "I gotta get you back home"

"No, Julian, I have to get back to ARK! Shadow needs me! I gotta find out if he's still alive!"

"Maria, please don't try to exert yourself too much-"

"Oh, Julian, you're always over-protecting me. I don't need that. Stop being my father! I'm an adult now!"

She got up and hung onto her brother for support, and together they looked around, trying to get a bearing of where on this strange planet they were. There had to be some way off...

Julian was still hazy, but he finally got back some of his memory. What had happened? Where was Gerald? And who was Shadow?

**************************************************

"I've ran a genetic scan on both of them," one of the doctors, a canary, said, "Their D.N.A. is very simmilar, suggesting that they could be related in some way"

"Related?" Porker asked, "But how?"

"I don't know. The funny thing is, they have variances in their genetic structure that Latifah doesn't have. It may be because she was 'bansheeized', but that doesn't explain the presence of two hearts in Julian, and only one in Maria. There's something weird about them, and I'll need to look further into it"

"Go ahead, Tekno," Porker said, "Rotor, notify me once she finds something"

The walrus nodded.

**************************************************

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Latifah laughed, "Snively, what say we have a nice little talk?"

"Who are you?" the midget asked.

The bansh-echidna's smile widened. She and Knuckles held all the cards.

"Never mind who I am, Snively. You will tell us where the Master Emerald that you stole is, and maybe we won't hurt you"

"What Master Emerald? I never stole an emerald. You got the wrong guy!"

Latifah chuckled. Her plan was working.

"I didn't ask you whether or not you stole the emerald. I'm asking you where it is, and why you stole it!"

"I'M TELLING YOU, I DIDN'T DO IT!!! NOW CAN YOU PLEASE LET ME GO???"

"I don't think I made myself clear," the female guardian said, "I'm asking you where the emerald is, and if you don't talk, you can forget about ever leaving this cage"

"LIKE I TOLD YOU BEFORE, I DON'T-"

"Fine," Knuckles said, "If you want to stay in this smelly cage-"

"GET ME OUT!!!!!! A FRIKKIN' HEDGEHOG LOCKED ME IN HERE!!!!!!"

"Oh, he did?" Latifah asked, making clear that she didn't know, or care about what happened.

"Yeah, and he crapped under the blanket just so he could gloat at me!"

"Well isn't that too bad?" Knuckles said, "Now tell us where the pieces of the Master Emerald are-"

He opened the cage-door, took off his gloves, and scraped his knuclaws.

"-Or do you like getting an infection?"

Snively's eyes widened.

"It'll only take a scratch, and in a few days, you'll swell up, stop breathing, and make a fairly amusing corpse. I know what a filthy cage can do to a wound, so you better tell us where the emerald is, or else..."

"I TOLD YOU!!!! I DON'T KNOW!!!!!!! JULIAN NEVER TELLS ME THESE THINGS!!!!!!!!!"

"Well, that's your problem, not mine," Knuckles said, as he held his claws to the midget's face.

"Look, I can help you find the stupid emerald pieces; maybe there's some equipment that can detect them or something. Just please don't hurt me! Please! I don't care what you do just-"

"Ok, we'll let you out, as soon as we find something to tie you up with," Latifah said, flirtingly hugging Knuckles.

{I love it when you think that way, dear,} she thought to him.

The echidna nodded, and grinned. This was going to be fun.

**************************************************

"AMY!!! AMY!!!"

No answer.

Now Tails was having second thoughts about making Amy search for the two guardians on her own. What if they killed her?

"AMY!!! WHERE ARE YOU!!!"

The kitsune sat down and started crying.

"Oh, Amy, where are you?"

"I don't know, but you're in alotaa trouble, little buddy!"

Tails turned around. Uh, oh...

Sonic glared at him.

"I-uh..." the fox began.

"Where did you last see her?" Sonic demanded.

"Over there"

Tails pointed to one of the factories.

"AND YOU JUST LEFT HER?????"

"I-I-I... we split up, like you and the other freedom fighters do when we raid this place. I wanted to get Knuckles and Latifah-"

"D***IT, TAILS! YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO GO OFF LIKE THAT WITHOUT AT LEAST ASKING US!!! WE WERE SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU!!! AND WHAT ABOUT AMY??? SHE COULD BE HURT!!!!"

Tails started crying, and Sonic couldn't stay mad at the little guy. He just didn't have the heart to.

"Aw, Tails, I was just worried about you. Sal and I both were," he said, hugging the kitsune.

"But Aunt Sally's gonna be mad at me !"

"We'll just have to see if we can find Amy, and then get back to Knothole and hope that Sal's in a forgiving mood"

"Ok. I'm scared, Uncle Sonic. What if Knuckles-"

"He didn't do anything to her, and neither did Latifah," Sonic said, "They aren't bad, even though the others probably think it. They just don't want us interfering with what they're doing. Understand?"

Tails nodded.

"I guess so. But what did they mean by our 'own worst enemies'? That's just weird"

"Well, they mean, if we don't let them look for the Master Emerald, then it could land somewhere, probably right on Knothole, and kill a lot of people. I know these things, Little-buddy; and I know Red. He's doing this for a reason, and he doesn't care how others feel as long as everyone is safe"

"Kinda like when Sally wouldn't let me go on those missions?" the kitsune asked.

Sonic nodded.

Tails hung his head.

"Well, we're probably gonna both be in big trouble when we get home," he said.

Sonic patted the fox's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Little-buddy. I'll try to work things out, but you did pick a bad time, what with Sal expecting. She's not feeling like herself, and you running off with Amy really got her worried, and mad-at me. We gotta find Amy, before Sal decides to look for us herself"

The kitsune nodded.

"Ok"

************************************************

"We gotta find Knuckles and Latifah, before they try to take over Knothole," Amy said.

"Knothole? What's that?" Rouge asked.

"Knothole's where I live, and where Robotnik can't get us"

"Wow," the bat said, "I never heard about that place. Where is it?"

"We're gettin' close. You're gonna love it there! Aunt Sally's so nice. She's a princess, and she gets to lead all the missions and stuff, but she and sonic wet their pants together and now she's gonna have a baby, so she has to stay home so it won't get hurt or something"

"Does she know anything about some kind of emerald?"

"Emerald? I think she was arguing with Knuckles about some kinda master-emerald or something. He was mad because she wouldn't let him go on a mission with Latifah. She wouldn't let him out of Knothole because he was paralyzed by Dr. Robotnik"

"He's crippled?"

Amy nodded.

"Tails told me. Then he told me Knuckles hit Sonic. I think he wants to get the emerald so he can hurt Sonic some more. I think he was just pretending to be sick, though. He was walking when Tails and Sonic were in Robotropolis, and then Tails said that Knuckles fell down and Sonic helped him, and then Knuckles hit Sonic really hard so he went to sleep"

"They tried to hurt me too," Rouge said, "They wanted the Master Emerald, but I didn't have it. Then there was this big explosion-"

The bat broke off, as if the memory was too painful.

"There, there, I won't let them hurt you. I'm a Freedom Fighter, so you're safe with me!"

The bat nodded, and continued following Amy to Knothole.

*******************************************

No... thought Ebony. This can't be!

She saw the bat and the hedgehog heading straight towards Knothole. This was not good.

Ebony had mind-linked with Pyjamas a few days ago, and knew what that meant for the Freedom Fighters, not to mention Mobius.

Knothole... I must go to Knothole...

She levitated off from where she was standing, and flew in the direction of the village.

Orin... please don't fail me...

*******************************************

"We can't just go back to Knothole empty-handed," Sonic said, "We're gonna have to find Amy... and then face Sally's wrath, of course"

Tails shuddered.

"Can't we look for her tomorrow?" he whined, "I'm hungry!"

"Look, we both know how Sally will react if we go back without Amy. She isn't herself right now, and we won't get a wink of sleep if she has anything to do with it"

"Ok," Tails said, "Then let's look in that building over there"

He pointed to a tall building a few meters away from them.

******************************************

"Boy, it's creepy in here," the kitsune said, as he and Sonic walked through the corridors.

"You get used to it," Sonic replied.

They wandered around for awhile, before finding a glowing green object in the distance.

"Whoa!" Sonic cried, "A chaos emerald-no, waitaminute! It must be a piece of the Master Emerald! That must be why we couldn't find it!"

He ran to pick up the piece, but ran smack into-

"Latifah!"

"Whadja do to Amy!" Tails demanded, making fists and trying to look threatening.

"Nothing," Knuckles said.

Then, the two Freedom Fighters noticed a familiar person standing next to the guardians, his hands cuffed and his legs shackled with rather weird looking leather handcuffs.

Snively!

"Don't ask where we got those, or how we got this little loser," Latifah said, "Just tell us why you're here, again! If you keep interfering, we will have no choice but to-"

"No," Sonic said, "We aren't trying to stop you from protecting us or your island. We're just looking for Amy!"

"Why?" Knuckles asked, "Why would she be here?"

Sonic looked at Tails, who looked away and started acting rather guilty.

Knuckles nodded, realizing what had happened.

"So you tried to capture us?"

Tails nodded.

Knuckles had Latifah let him down again, and once down, gestured for Tails to come closer. Tails, of course, hesitated at first, thinking the guardian would hit him.

"Don't worry," Knuckles said, "I won't hurt you. I was just giving Sonic an excuse to let me and Latifah be"

Tails shrugged, and walked over to the guardian and sat down. Knuckles put a hand on the kitsune's shoulder, and smiled.

"All we're doing is trying to reassemble the Master Emerald. Do you want Floating Island to fall somewhere and kill people?"

Tails shook his head.

"Good. Now, if you really want to help your friends, either go back home, or help us find the rest of the pieces. And we will help you find Amy"

"Enough!" Snively demanded, "Let's get the emerald-pieces so I can finally be rid of you guys!"

Both guardians quirked a smile, then broke into an amused laugh.

"Oh, we didn't say anything about letting you go," Latifah said, with an evil grin.

Knuckles shook his head, "Indeed. We only said we would let you out of the cage. Once you've outlived your usefulness, what we do depends on what kind of mood we're in. And right now, you are in no position to argue"

"Well, can I at least go to the bathroom?" Snively pleaded.

Knuckles laughed, his grin getting more evil.

"No," he said.

******************************************

"Who are you, and what the hell are you doing here?" Sally demanded, glaring at the tall black cat who had just appeared at Knothole.

"I'm Ebony," the cat said, "And I'm here because Knothole, as well as all of Mobius, is in danger. Someone is planning to steal the Master Emerald, and she's heading this way with one of your own"

Ebony looked around frantically, as if she was being followed.

"And now I must go. The guardians are in danger, and must all be rescued before it's too late"

With that, Ebony took off and levitated away.

When the cat was gone, Sally walked back into Bunnie's hut.

"Who was thait, Sally-girl?" Bunnie asked.

"No one I know. Probably a messenger from another resistance-cell. Please inform me if you see her again, and while you're at it, stand watch in case Amy or Tails has returned"

Bunnie raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

"Fahn, Sally-girl, just as lawng as you stay-put!"

******************************************

Meanwhile, in a ship deep in space...

"Obsideon, time for your nap"

"Yes, Sera... Will you sleep with me? I don't like to sleep in the dark alone"

The woman nodded, since she had no superiors to bother with, and another officer could easily fill in for her. She followed the creature to a drab, but richly-furnished bed, and got under the covers with him.

The being's coarse hair poked at her skin as he snuggled up to her. Sera wrapped an arm around him, and held him close.

Absentmindedly, she kissed Obsideon, and stroked his black fur.

"When two people like each other alot... they kiss..." Obsideon mumbled, half asleep.

Sera nodded, raising her eyebrow a little, as well as her ears.

Sera's ears weren't like other peoples' ears. They were on top of her head, a result of genetic manipulation and artificial physiological enhancement. Her father had been involved in some unsavory business, been in a few places where one would not want to be recognized, and had a special little slush-fund, as most politicians did. But of course, the slush-fund was not enough.

The leader wanted something else, namely, a night with Sera. And since her father would not have it, he would have to be taught a little lesson...

"Daddy! Don't let them do this to me! Help! I'm scared!"

But he couldn't help her. All he could do was wait, until his little daughter was dropped off on his door-step, bedraggled, shivering, and with a couple new appendages: cat-ears and a tail.

Sera was never the same after that, and would often flip-out or act like a baby until she ran off and joined the same seedy underground as her father had. She started off as a prostitute, catering to both genders with tastes for weird mutants, hoping to find and kill the people who did this to her.

Especially one certain person, the one who had called all the shots. She would never forget that person's name. Never.

With that thought, Sera closed her eyes and nuzzled closer to Obsideon. Soon, she would have her revenge, and the nightmares that plagued her every night would finally go away.

****************************************************


	11. Getting Weirder

Ok, I know I've been slacking off on this series, but alot of things have happened: I was stuck, then Orin accidentally delted her works-in-progress, which really got me depressed, partly because she really loved writing, and it seemed that the incident just *WHAM!!!* killed the muse, and partly because i was worried that my barrage of emails were getting her all annoyed(and that would've really been the wrong time to annoy her O__O;;). But she started writing again, and I'm so glad that she is. I just hope that she doesn't ever become a work-a-holic, and I'm praying that she will always have a little time for things like friens, recreation, and fanfiction, of course ^__^. It would just be horrible if Orin would really never be able to write fanfics again, or if she really permanently lost the desire to write, because she's one of the most talented writers in this fandom, or any other. You really should read her fics, because they are some of the best on the net.

And there's college. I can't just live off my parents forever; i have to get a job.

Also, a net-buddy of mine has recently gone through a very difficult operation, where the rods that were in her spine for three years were removed. If you ask me, the insurance-companies shouldn't consider removing spinal-rods 'elective' or 'unnecessary'. They are very restrictive, from what she told me, and caused great discomfort. The only reason they were removed was because one of them broke, and they weren't replaced because she didn't need them. And her recovery was very hard, because this was a very serious procedure. I spent alot of time instant-messaging her, comforting her, and giving her some much-needed company, and she now consideres me a good friend, which I am honored to be.

And I'm in two radio-plays that I intend to see through, because the producers are very nice, and they write their plays well. There's another one that I may finish, and it's the first radio-play I was in, but I have put it at the very last on my list of priorities. Want to know why? It's because the writer is a big jerk, who in the beginning, has made the female characters all gay, even though he agreed not to. He would keep on putting Xena-ish inuendo in the scripts, which made several actors mad enough to leave. I haven't officially left, but one more push from him, and I'm leaving. Just a word of warning: avoid Tuxedo-Mark, aka, Mark Moore, at all costs! He is extremely obnoxious, and has, in the past, turned people against each other. I'm guessing he's just being immature, but maybe he also likes watching people fight with one another. Frankly, he doesn't impress me.

Just to let you know, that I'm going to probably be taking this a little slowly, depending on my inspiration.

And this is for all my reviewers and friends, including:

Orin, the one who was nice enough to let me do this story in the first place, and loved it! She reviewed it, and even painted a picture(one of my favorites) of it. Orin, if you are reading this, I really, really want to know if "healing hearts" survived the fire. Please tell me, because if I ever meet you offline, I would love to see it up-close, and even touch it. If it didn't, oh well... at least I have it with me on several CD R's/RW's. And she has helped me out when somebody flamed me for a fic that had rape in it. She told me that I did nothing wrong, and that I portrayed rape very honestly, and that there was no shame in it. Thank you, Orin ^___^!

RockChick, a very talented comic artist I met almost two years ago, and really gave me a self-esteem boost from her comments on my fics. I didn't know they were that good back then^___^. And she has been a very good friend to me. I've enjoyed emailing her, and hopefully, she'll be able to get an internet-connection in her dorm(flat), so we can email each other without her potentially getting in trouble(it's her first year at the university, and the uni-computers are for 'academic-use' only, so she has to sneak). Also, I hope we can meet offline someday, because she has been a real friend, and very supportive.

Elise, who gave such nice reviews for my fan-art on her manic the hedgehog fan-site, manic-panic. She has really encouraged me in everything that i've been doing, and has helped me look at art in different ways. You should see some of her critiques, because they are very eloquent. She knows alot about art, and if you want a good review on your art(she never gives negative reviews), go there. Elise can always find something positive in artwork.

Starlet Angel, a sweet and funny author who has gone through alot of pain in her life. She recently had an operation that took the rods out of her spine, and is still recovering. I hope you recover mentally, as well, Starlet, and don't be afraid to cry. Sometimes, even the strongest people cry, and you have been through enough pain and hardships to last alot of people a lifetime. Keep working on "Escape From the Light" and your other fics, and I'd love to see some of your poems, and more of your pictures. Don't let anyone tell you you can't draw, because that's a lie. Anyone who wants to draw and is capable of using a pencil or some other writing-implement can draw!

And I would like to thank all the other reviewers who gave fics like "May and December" and "Harley Quinn's Tragedy" such positive reviews. "Harley Quinn's Tragedy" is no longer on ff.net, due to the ban on NC-17 fics.

You may disagree with me, but I think the new rule is in place partly because alot of the 'NC-17' submissions actually should've been rated X, or even triple-X. Some even portrayed consentual sex between nine and ten-year-olds, from what I heard, which appalled me. Yes, I believe in freedom of expression, but we must draw a line somewhere, simply because, as that one Creed-song goes, "what goes through your thoughts controlls your life". I do not want to think about children having consentual sex, because I don't want to start liking it, and become a mollester. It can happen to anyone, and I don't want to invite a monster like that into my life. The banshee has spoken.

On another note, I probably won't be on the 'net every day, or the computer for that matter. I will be getting some kind of job soon, and I can't just be attached to the computer all the time, because it will get me nowhere. I need a job, so I can get the stuff I want, not to mention what I need to get by on my own.

And in my story, I think I might make the psyonic-bridge stop working after awhile. Knuckles might not be able to ever walk again afterwards, but weather he does or not, he will be happy. And this has turned into a crossover, with a certain British program that I used to watch, untill they stopped showing it. It has to do with a certain half-alien man who travels through time, and never reveals his real name... I bet you know who I'm talking about... ;)

________

Latifah sat under a tree, as she watched Knuckles and his friends. It was good to see them talking again, instead of fighting, though some part of both guardians did enjoy being the enemies.

She looked at Snively, who was asleep, and had wet his pants. Neither guardian let him go to the toilet, or cross his legs. He had to walk at the pace everyone else was walking, regardless of the intense discomfort and repeated pleas for mercy.

"I REALLY HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!!!" Snively had yelled.

"So do I," Knuckles replied, taking perverse delight in Robotnik's nephew's pain, "But you don't hear me bragging about it"

Knuckles was unable to feel the discomfort associated with the need to relieve himself, as long as he and Latifah's connection wasn't strong enough to form the psy-bridge. One of the few upsides of his condition. His paralysis didn't bother him much when he was around the young bansh-echidna, who would give him the contact and love he had missed for so many years. During the short recovery in Knothole, Knuckles had changed, what with being cared for so lovingly when he thought he could only look forward to more pain. The two just needed each other.

Latifah looked up at the sky, and thought back at everything that had happened. For most of her life, she had been the good girl, trying to even avoid thinking about things that went against her mother's teaching... as if it was possible to prevent something from crossing her mind, once she thought of it. Now, these thoughts, some of them sinister, others gross or funny, were beginning to proliferate in her mind. She would entertain them, but her love for Knuckles would prevent her from following them, particularly the more violent ones.

Then her thoughts went to sex... Latifah knew what went where, but guessed that it could also go other places, that there would be other variations of hetero-sex alone... and maybe it would be possible to engage in some of these variations with Knuckles. Latifah, after all, had started getting a weird feeling while walking, and while washing. Perhaps it was natural... maybe it wasn't, but there was no 'mother' to tell her "no", no 'mother' to punish her. Maybe it was time to see if her hypothesis was correct... but only if Knuckles was willing. It would be a terrible crime to force herself upon a cripple who couldn't escape her advances.

Knuckles... he was so beautiful, so perfect... those slender legs, free of the ugly splints he had to wear back at Knothole, those muscular arms... and that chest... The guardian's pectoral muscles were bigger now, thanks to the therepy. Latifah wanted to kiss them, as well as the biceps... she wanted to feel his body next to hers, his furry chest, naked... she wanted to lay naked with him, and hold him so close, kissing his wonderfully hairy muzzle. Latifah wanted him bad.

Something inside her had started awakening about a month after reaching Knothole, something that scared her, but now the bansh-echidna was not going to hold it back. To hell with the restrictions of the past. She was free. Free to engage in that thinking. Free to feel what she wanted to feel.

And nobody was going to stop her. Nobody was going to order her or Knuckles around. They were going to get the Master Emerald, and they were going to get it on their own terms. Anyone standing in the way would regret it.

Again, she thought of everything she had left behind... her computer, the network, those little games and toys she had played with to take her mind off the unbearable loneliness... the bansh-echidna didn't miss them, after getting used to being without them at Knothole, knowing she could never return to them.

She didn't belong in that world. Never had, never would.

Latifah walked over to Knuckles and put her hand on his shoulder. He turned to her, and smiled as she sat down next to him. To Sonic and Tails, the bansh-echidna was just an aquaintance, but still a stranger. After all, she hadn't mind-linked with them, or shown them mercy when they were totally helpless(not that she wouldn't).

The bansh-echidna picked Knuckles up and sat him down on her lap. Even though he couldn't feel it, sitting on rough ground for too long would do as much damage to him as it would to someone who wasn't suffering from his affliction. The echidna rested his head on her chest, and snuggled closer, with some difficulty due to his condition.

Knuckles felt so secure and complete, even forgetting about the home he was supposed to guard, despite his attempts to stay focused. There had been no tidal-wave, no sign of Floating Island falling... it was as if someone else was holding it up... but who?

Latifah kissed his muzzle, and stroked the crippled echidna's back. For now, at least they had a little paradise, just a little happiness before returning to business. And both echidnas valued every moment. Just the cool wind, birds and insects going about their business, and the pond that would supply drinking-water as well as water to bath in. So simple, so quiet. Moments like this were so rare, nowadays.

Just then, a sound startled the guardians. They turned to see a humanoid, and a very familiar one... the streak in the hair... and those green eyes...

"Jarad!" Latifah spat, "What the hell are you doing here? I'm not one of your people! Not anymore!"

"You will come with me," the man said, his face expressionless.

"Make us," she hissed.

"I can arrange that"

Knuckles grinned.

"You and what army?"

Jarad laughed.

"Oh, I don't need an army. Not when I'm dealing with a disobedient little girl and a crippled native!"

Then he took out an emerald and lifted the two astonished guardians into the air.

"Now what are you gonna do? Eh, you little cripples! You who can't even move small rocks!"

"That's because my so-called 'mother' was damping my powers!" Latifah yelled, "As soon as I got out of range, I was able to use them!"

Jarad laughed again, and used his powers to start pulling Latifah and Knuckles apart.

"And use them you did," he said, "To interfere with the daily lives of the Mobians! You actually rescued one and did a rather shoddy job on his spine! He may need more surgery, just to correct the damage you have done!"

"We'll worry about that later," Latifah said, "Now please leave me be! Why do you want to just ruin my happiness? Why? Can't you just let me alone, and be rid of me? Then you would never have to worry about the poor little cripple again!"

"Oh, because your real mother has gone mad!" Jarad answered, "And she might be the one who has been stealing our powers! Including your own!"

Latifah gasped. My... real mother???

********

Back at Knothole, Porker went to check on Maria, only to find out that she was missing. And so was Julian... this was bad. If Julian were to get his memory back, then the Freedom Fighters were in trouble. The annoyed pig activated his comm.

"Tekno, Rotor, we have a situation. Why haven't you been watching Ro-I mean-Julian?"

No answer.

What the hell was going on?

Now thouroughly ticked off, Porker decided to search the hospital-hut, and after finding nothing, Tekno and Rotor's huts. After a long and fruitless search, he started looking in broom-closets and other places, surmising that the two were occupied with... other more pressing matters... whatever they were doing, Tekno and Rotor were in big trouble. Really big trouble.

********

Meanwhile, Julian was starting to feel disoriented. Something was not right. His head was aching, and disturbing memories were coming back. Memories of trying to... 'roboticize' the Mobians...? What was going on?

Julian didn't like those thoughts, because he didn't want to think about hurting the ones who rescued him from his mean master Snively. He wished that those thoughts would go away and leave him alone.

Those memories... so terrible... he was a monster. Why would he do those things? Why would anyone want to harm these creatures?

"I would expect that from grandpa, and maybe Maria, but... why would I do something like that?" Julian wondered.

It was like waking from a bad dream, yet now, he was in another one, one which would probably only get worse as it progressed, and ultimately end in his death. Then again, he thought, maybe I deserve it. I know what I did, and I know that I deserve no mercy. I just hope they don't do anything to hurt poor Maria. I'd rather they kill me than my sister...

He kissed Maria on the forehead, and continued running, despite the weariness from his ponderous bulk. Julian found that he had put on alot of weight, and had completely changed, and he knew why. Years of just sitting on his bum. That was the price he was paying. He had all his memories, but it was like they were all happening on the holo-viewer, and he was watching them, like he used to watch the news. But the news was all about him. Julian had done many terrible things, and there was no trying to deny or hide what he did.

Julian was paying for his crimes, yet it was like he was paying from someone else's misdeeds. Why did he have to suffer like that? Why did he do these things, and then have his memory wiped so he would be sane again, only to remember them and know that he had raped a planet and its people? Why?

********

"Will you please let us go?" Tekno demanded to the strange human.

"I can't. I need your help," the human answered, "The TARDIS is damaged, and I need someone to fix it. The confounded Council has made me unable to control what year or era I can travel to, all because I wanted to help people. This is getting exceedingly annoying, and I will not tolerate this any further!"

"Look," Rotor said, "If you wanted our help, you could've asked"

"Oh yes," the human said, "You would willingly help me? I know how your people hate those who look like me, and frankly, I wouldn't blame you. I have met more than my share of the likes of Julian"

"We'd help you," Tekno said, "But how are we supposed to know if you're telling the truth? I mean, you did kidnap us"

"Yeah, and you didn't even introduce yourself!" Rotor added.

The man smiled.

"I am the doctor," he simply stated, "That's all you need to know"

"Doctor?" Tekno wondered, "Dr. who?"

The strange human just smiled at the two animals, and untied their bonds.

"Now get to work," he said.

********

Perfect... just perfect... a certain someone thought, as she surveyed the area. Knothole was vulnerable, since Sonic was away, along with Tails, and Sally was in no condition to fight.

The prowler laughed to herself, and watched the Freedom Fighters as they went about their business, or looked for a few missing members.

"Yes..." she whispered, "Just try to stop me... hehehehe"

She had stealth, cunning, and a hunger for anything of monitary value. And some of the stuff the Freedom Fighters had, not to mention their skins and fur, would make her even richer on the black-market. Skins of sentients... rare inventions from a far-off planet... yes... Lady-luck has struck again.

"Go ahead... Go about your business you wretched balls of fur! Soon I will have it all! It will all be mine! All mine!"

"All yours?" a voice startled the prowler.

She turned around to see a dark shape, with parts that shone like metal.

"I don't think so. If you dare lay a finger on my birthright, I swear I will kill you. I have the Sword of the Acorns, and I am not afraid to use it"

"And who the hell are you, you mangy flea-bag?" the prowler, now feeling not-so-sure of herself, demanded.

"Oh, questions, questions..." the other being laughed, "Just stay away from what doesn't belong to you, my sweet little freak, because otherwise, I will have to resort to some very drastic measures. And you do not want me to have to do that, now do you?"

"It depends," the prowler said, trying to keep from sounding afraid, "Do you really want to fight with me? Because I am more than willing to take on a native who is too chicken to show himself"

The prowler regreted those words the instant they left her mouth. What was this Mobian capable of? What would happen, now that she had provoked him?"

The Mobian just paused, as if to think for a moment. Then he spoke again.

"I will take care of you soon enough, little slut. And I don't know exactly what you mean by 'chicken', but i'm sure it was some kind of insult, and I do not take too well to insults. You have just made a very grave mistake"

Then, he turned to leave, looking back only to say "Just remember: you can run, but you cannot hide"

********

In her hut, Sally was suddenly getting some very bad vibes. What was going on? Was she starting to turn into a psychic, like the ever-annoying Pyjamas? Or was Omochao, one of Tekno's experiments, sending some weird radio-waves that were making her feel that something wasn't right?

"Sally-girl, what's goin' on? You spaced-out or somethin'?"

She woke up to see a worried Bunnie looking down at her. The pregnant squirrel turned over in Bunnie's bed, and sighed. Something was definitely up.

"I... don't know... and I doubt you would listen to me... after all, nobody listens to Pyjamas..."

Bunnie gave her friend a quizzical look. What on Mobius was Sally talking about? Pyjamas?

"What? What's this about? And what's that crazy ol' psychic gotta do with the price o' beans?"

"It's just... I don't know..." Sally said, rolling her eyes, "I just... have this... weird feeling..."

"What kinda feelin', Sally-girl?"

"I don't know... I just... oh hell! Something bad is gonna happen, and I don't know what!" Sally blurted out, "I just know that, if we don't do something about it, Knothole is history!"

Bunnie chuckled.

"Ok... then forget that Ah asked..."

********

Meanwhile, someone else was watching Knothole, and scanning the area with her mind. Thanks to the weakened state of this old banshee, the woman now had a remote. With this remote, she could more easily scan the area, and appear totally harmless... nobody would have a clue.

Just then, a dark shape jumped out of the brush. The remote turned around.

Ebony... the remote had memories of a... cat... an earth-creature... earth... which the banshees were exiled from after the Great Scream of Belfast... ungrateful currs! The mundanes had expelled all those who screamed after the ancient city went up in a mushroom cloud, which was the product of a long and pointless turf-war. The humans could never just share their land... and most had no tollerance for religious differences, or so she heard in the stories that she heard in school.

The screams that resulted from the many burnings caused the people to fear the banshees, and all psychics. There was no room for beings that could potentially mind-control the people, so they had to leave. Luckily, there was Mobius, the destination of some other beings with super-human abilities. These beings had found a way to hide themselves in plain sight, since they were paranoid that the mundanes, or norms, would find them.

The banshees, however, had taken this idiotic 'leap of faith', and stayed, believing that the mundanes would eventually accept them. No such luck. Several thousand banshees were killed, before the governments of the world decided to stop the killing and round up the survivors for the first planetary-deportation ever. They were hearded into a ship filled with the bare minimum of supplies, and earth was finally rid of what they saw as a 'threat'. The mundanes actualy believed that the banshees had helped destroy Belfast... idiots...

And the Great Scream would have never happened, had the banshees kept taking their silence-gas, as they had during the holocaust and the destruction of the World Trade Center. But they were under the impression that the killing would end. Oh, how wrong they were. So many banshees were lulled into a false sense of security, and they payed dearly.

But now, the banshees would reclaim what was rightfully theirs. The bastards who called themselves 'humans' would pay for what they did.

The woman laughed through her remote.

"Ebony, is it? Have you come to show me one of your parlor-tricks?"

"Come with me, Orin, and don't give me that. We both know you disobeyed"

"Orin? Ha ha ha ha! She is weak and stupid! But this body makes for a wonderful disguise, don't you think?"

Ebony glared at her.

"I know who you are, you whore! Remove yourself from her body!"

"And why should I? If you try to kill me, your little doggy-friend gets it"

Doggy-friend...

Ebony gasped. She must have meant the real Pyjamas... but how?

"Oh, how indeed..." the Mobian laughed, "My remote is psychic, like myself, and most psychics can read minds, you know"

The cat grabbed the remote and backed her up to a tree. Then, she kissed the Mobian remote on the lips, in an effort to confuse her and put her latant telepathic powers to use.

{Orin... are you there...?}

{...?...}

{ORIN!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME?} Ebony mentally yelled.

{...fail... ...I... .............}

{ORIN!!!}

{......................................................}

{ORIN!!! PLEASE ANSWER ME!!!}

{...?...?...?...?...?...}

{...?...}

{...?...}

{...?...}

{...?...}

{...?...}

{...?...}

{...?...}

{...?...}

Pulling in... mind... fading... no... can't make me no can't make me no can't make no can't make me no can't make me no can't make me no can't make me no can't make me no can't make me no can't make me no can't make me no can't make meeee.e.e..e....e.e.e..e.....eee.e..................................................................................................................................................................

.............?...............................

??????

????????????????

????????????????????????????????????????????????......................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................?????????????????????????????????????????????????

No thought no mind no will no thought no mind no will no thought no mind no will no thought no mind no will no thought no mind no will no thought no mind no will no thought no mind no willllllll...............................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

.........................aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!wake up wake up wake up wake up now comeone wake up now wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up wake up........................................../////////////////////////////////////////////????????????///////

"WAKE UP!!!"

Ebony snapped back into reality, dazed. What had happened? Right... the cat thought to herself, the remote... she tried to mind-control me through the remote...

"Idiot!" she mumbled to herself.

The cat looked around, and saw that the remote was gone. This was bad. A spy, possibly being used to reclaim... earth? Something she remembered from what Orin said... earth... Ebony needed rest, as her brain was still buzzing from the attempted takeover, but there was no time for rest. Somehow, she needed to contact someone who could help... but who? Lightmare? Daughter and accomplace to Lord Sidewinder, a very dangerous Psychic-criminal from Mobodoon, and still at large? No. She would have to go directly to the bansh-echidnas, the ones who were transmographied so they could survive on banshee-milk... maybe they could help... but where were they now?

"Latifah..."

********

And farther off, still in deep space, Sera watched the view-screen intently.

"We will be approaching Mobius shortly," one of the officers announced, before going back to his station.

"Good," Sera said, grinning at the prospect.

Soon, she would make the bastard who raped and disfigured her pay.

"You will wish you never existed," she mumbled, concentrating all her anger on that one person who had made her life a living hell.

Then, Sera decided to go back to her room, to the creature who was quickly becoming her lover. She had had many lovers, but none so sweet as the one that awaited her in her room. This innocent one, so un-touched and fresh... he would be gentle and make it so enjoyable for her... not like the others, rough and only out for one-night-stands. No. This one was a definite keeper.

She stepped inside her room, and saw the small form of her lover laying on her bed, asleep. Tentatively, Sera climbed onto the bed, making sure that she made as little noise as she could. Her lover was a little jumpy when it came to noise and being startled, and kept on mumbling about a kiss... she would give him a kiss soon enough, when he awoke.

Sure enough, his eyes opened, revealing the eerie red glow, and she embraced him hungrily.

"Obsidion," Sera whispered seductively, "You were a very good boy today, so I have a little surprise for you"

"I like surprises," the creature whispered, "What is it?"

Obsidian was biologically eighteen, but seemed to have suffered amnesia, or maybe he was a clone, and a very young, childish one at that. Sera felt a little twinge of guilt, but shook it off as she gave him his first taste of a deep tongue-touching kiss.

"Obsidion, my dear, when two people love each other very much, they do this," she told him, with a sweet, lascivious smile.

And she kissed him again, before turning out the light.

________


End file.
